Gervonta Davis & Tyriesha Douglas Charm Crowd at Coppin State
Photos by Gautham Nagesh for StiffJab.com
by Gautham Nagesh
BALTIMORE, Md.–Baltimore has all the hallmarks of a fight town: empty ports, shuttered factories, and neighborhoods full of tough young men with few options.
But Charm City has almost no boxing tradition to speak of, not since legendary lightweight Joe Gans became the first African-American world boxing champion in 1902. It took 80 years for another Baltimore fighter, middleweight Vincent Pettway, to win a world title. The lone shining moment since was Hasim Rahman’s 2001 knockout of Lennox Lewis to win the heavyweight championship. Rahman’s reign was short; Lewis knocked him out in the rematch seven months later.
The absence of tradition could be viewed as a negative, or simply an opportunity for young fighters like Edgewood Arsenal junior welterweight Emmanuel “Tranzforma” Taylor to leave their mark. Taylor is now at the forefront of a group of local prospects eager to elevate Baltimore boxing above the club level. He will get plenty of help from Gervonta “Tank” Davis (above) and Tyriesha “Lady Tyga” Douglas (below right), who dazzled the crowd during the first boxing card at Coppin State University on Saturday night, promoted by Keystone Boxing.
Fittingly, Pettway was recognized before the main event, and expressed hope that one of today’s fighters will soon join him as Baltimore’s next world champion.
[[MORE]]Davis is quickly gaining attention as one of the most promising prospects in the region, if not the country. Over the past 18 months, he has captured the National Golden Gloves championship at 123 lbs., turned professional, and scored four stoppage wins, all at just 18 years old. Saturday night was his first turn as the headliner and he delivered, pounding Rafael Casias with left hands and right hooks until the ringside doctor was forced to stop the fight at 2:26 of the 2nd round.
A left hand from Davis opened a nasty cut above Casias’ right eye (below), which the ringside doc checked out twice. The first time he sent Casias back out to fight, much to the crowd’s appreciation. The second time, both the doctor and referee sensed there was no point, especially with the risk of permanent damage. Davis had been completely dominating the fight, and only Casias’ toughness had kept him standing. Davis was too calm to get ruffled by Casias’ pressure, too patient to take unnecessary risks, and too precise when he decided to fire his lightning-quick combinations.
Davis is in truth just a kid, so it’s much too soon to go heaping expectations upon his shoulders. But he is good, very good, and has more than a whiff of something special about him. I watch a lot of boxing, especially the youngsters, prospects and high-level amateurs. Physical tools are alluring, but usually matter less than composure or focus. Davis has good tools, but what makes him such an intriguing prospect is his comfort in the ring. At 18, he’s already fought over 200 amateur fights and is turning professional at the perfect time, which should assure he grows into that style as he matures.
There are, of course, no guarantees, in boxing or West Baltimore. Davis is the latest hope in a line of promising young fighters trained by Calvin Ford of Upton Boxing, the real-life inspiration for the character of Dennis “Cutty” Wise on The Wire. Life came between those other youngsters and glory inside the ring. Unless Davis keeps his eyes firmly on the prize, and surrounds himself with the right sort of people, the danger is always there for him as well. Fortunately, Saturday night provided the best inspiration for a young man when days in the gym seem long and pointless: the adulation of his hometown.
Saturday’s turnout wasn’t great, but the fans that came were there to scream and make joyful noise unto their gladiators. Coppin State’s Physical Education Center is a fantastic venue, and easily accessible due to its West Baltimore location. Coppin State athletic director Derrick Ramsey expressed his hope that Saturday night would be the first of many cards there, and we share his enthusiasm. The night’s fights may have featured slightly less talent that the typical Beltway card these days, but they more than made up for it with action and enthusiasm.
The co-feature saw Kentrell Claiborne (below left) of Texas control Baltimore light heavyweight Willie “For Real” Williams (below right) in the first round with heavy, clubbing blows. Williams doesn’t possess much pop, but he made up for it with effort in the 2nd round, landing some good shots when the fight shifted inside. The crowd screamed its approval when Williams started using his superior skills to evade and counter the plodding Claiborne.
Claiborne rocked Williams in the 2nd with a hard clubbing right hand, but may have punched himself out with his early onslaught. The 2nd saw strong action from both men, with Williams possibly hurting Claiborne with a shot to the body near the end of the round. Both men spent the interval sucking wind on their stools, and came out for the 3rd looking gassed and tentative.
Williams recovered first and began to attack; he had Claiborne on the ropes by the end of the round. Both men began firing everything they had, brawling in heat with little regard for safety. The crowd was on their feet and loving it, screaming and waving in sheer delight. The end of the 3rd turned into an all-out fire fight, with Williams using his jab and getting inside, where his punches were harder, straighter, and more effective.
Williams continued to dominate in the 4th, pounding a spent Claiborne. The referee peered closely at Claiborne’s wilted carcass for the entire round, before finally pulling the trigger at 2:20 of the 4th. Claiborne was getting hit at the time, but also responding; in truth he was more exhausted than beaten up. Williams overcame his early rough patch due to his superior conditioning, but ultimately it was his will that won the fight. Claiborne clearly didn’t prepare for the contest to last the full six rounds, regardless of outcome.
The lone sour note of the evening came courtesy of Brooklyn welterweight Joseph Judah, brother of Zab. Matchmaker Brian Dillon told me Judah paid $5,000 for a spot on the card against George Sosa (above) of Reading, Pa., and declined Dillon’s offer of a less competitive opponent. It was a mistake. Sosa came out with purpose from the outset, while Judah looked like he had been hoping to jab and dance his way to victory. Whenever the two drew close enough to do actual damage, Judah would retreat with a nervous look on his face.
By the 2nd, the crowd was booing Judah, who was content to back up and jab while Sosa pursued him. Like his more famous brother, Judah is a southpaw that fights with his left hand cocked. Unfortunately, his left doesn’t pack the same dynamite as his big brother’s. The booing grew louder as the round wore on, while Sosa kept winging hard shots with his hands down. Judah resorted to trying to hold when things get heated, but Sosa kept walking through his punches and punishing him.
Judah’s corner complained of a shoulder injury after the 2nd and almost immediately began unwrapping his hands as he returned to the corner. The initial impressions of those in attendance were that Judah had quit on his stool. If Judah was hurt, it must have been early, because he did not seem interested in fighting Sosa at all. All fighters are brave in their own way, so we won’t question Judah’s word, but the crowd seemed less than convinced. Sosa improved to 8-4 (8 KOs), while Judah fell to 6-3 (1 KO) and has lost three of his last four.
Baltimore super bantamweight Glenn Dezurn, Jr. (above left) fights out of Umar Boxing, which just down the street from Coppin State, so it was no surprise when he received a huge ovation from the crowd. Marquis Pierce (above right) traveled from Phillipsburg, N.J., and didn’t come to lose either, after winning his first and only pro fight by decision. The two provided some of the most heated action of the evening, but in the end all three judges scored it 40-36 for Dezurn, Jr. We didn’t score the fight, but felt Pierce deserved better.
Headbangers middleweight prospect DeMond Nicholson (right) made a successful pro debut by pummeling Eli Smith of Wilson, Mich. until the doctor was forced to stop the fight halfway through the second round. The long, lean 20-year-old from Laurel, Md. looked calm and ready in his first pro bout, and appeared to be landing almost everything he threw as the fight wore on.
Nicholson was way too good for Smith, who has the distinction of being the first fighter from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula featured on this site. He will return to the UP a little lighter after Nicholson sprayed his blood all over the ring, including onto the shoulder of my beloved Cassius Clay T-shirt. If there’s any criticism to be made of Nicholson, it’s that he left his jab in the dressing room, and was too content to walk through Smith’s punches. Better fighters will make Nicholson pay, if he lets them hit him with the same ease.
Still, the most impressive performance of the night probably belonged to Tyriesha Douglas, originally from D.C. but now fighting out of Baltimore. Douglas is a southpaw female flyweight with a deadly right hook. A rare combination indeed. Her opponent, Marisol Miranda of Florida, was extremely game, but overmatched against Douglas’ technical skills. Some of that polish is probably because Douglas comes from a fighting family; her brother Antoine “Action” Douglas is a promising local middleweight and one of the few fighters we keep a close eye on.
Douglas is a smooth boxer like her brother, but has perhaps more of a fighter’s temperament. She danced around the ring, clad all in black, with her hands dangling below her waist and her head bobbing to an erratic beat. She hurt Miranda several times her compact a right hook, before flooring her in the 3rd with a straight left hand. Miranda gamely rose and continued to fight, but Douglas was too slick and strong for the Floridian. All three judges scored the fight 40-35 for Douglas.
The best word to describe Lady Tyga is dynamic; she throws short, hard combinations and is accurate with both her left and right hands. Her slick, technical style combined with her speed makes her an anomaly in women’s boxing, which is dominated by the upright European-style fighters. Douglas is good enough to convert any fight fan into a follower of female pugilists; hopefully she’ll get more chances to impress fans on local undercards. She improved to 3-0 (1 KO), while Miranda fell to 5-6 (1 KO)
We sometimes forget this, since Stiff Jab respects fighters of all genders, races, and orientations, but not everyone in boxing has made it to the 21st century yet.The most spirited contest of the night featured two amateur girls, neither standing close to five-feet tall. One fighter was from Umar Boxing, while the other appeared to represent Upton Boxing, though we can’t be sure. The Umar boxing combatant expended considerable energy on her strut to the ring, and was escorted to ring by a passel of jubilant local youngsters, none of whom appeared older than 10.
The fight was announced as a “grudge rematch” and began with the girl in red stalking her Umar counterpart the entire first round. Umar was retreating, pausing, and firing back in combination, but Red started landing her straight right hand and took control. She appeared to hurt Umar with a combination to the body at one point, but kept firing to the head instead.
To her credit, Umar came out firing in the 2nd. She kept trying to box for the duration of the fight, but her opponent’s pressure was too much, and the day went to Upton. No matter. Both girls gave as well as they took, and carried themselves as fighters. The result was besides the point.
Hopefully that fact wasn’t lost on the referee for the contest, a former national karate champion and incorrigible sexist. The ref lamented that he would have to referee girls before the contest, telling the judge at ringside, “You know I hate cat fights.”
We hate ignorance, and small-time referees with almost no idea how to control a bout, even an amateur contest between two kids weighing less than 100 lbs.
For evidence, my neighbor at the press table informed us that the first round of the bout went 2:15, while the second and third rounds lasted only a minute. Any ref with half a clue would have noticed that the first round went far too long, but our official was too buried in his antiquated notions of who should fight to do his job.
Still, those were the most spirited four minutes of combat I’ve seen in quite a while. I hope the ref was paying attention. Girls can fight these days, and do plenty of other things. Maybe that ref should join the party.