Opening Bell: DMV Boxing Prospects Grow Up This Summer

Pictured above is Lime Lite Boxing Gym, located in the basement of an apartment building on Otis St. in Columbia Heights. Lime Lite was the first boxing gym I visited in D.C. and it immediately felt like home, so I’ve always tried to keep tabs on their progress, particularly amateur star Malik Jackson. The trainers there do an amazing job in a very humble setting. There isn’t even room for a ring in the L-shaped space, but that hasn’t stopped them from producing champions.

That’s why I’m excited to pass along the news that Gregory Newby, son of Lime Lite co-founder and trainer Tony Simmons, will join Stiff Jab amateur favorites David “Day Day” Grayton and Danny Kelly in making their professional debuts on August 4th at the Ramada Renaissance Hotel in Washington. All three will debut on a card promoted by Babie Gurl Productions headlined by a rematch between Henry “Sugar Poo” Buchanan and Dhafir “No Fear” Smith.

Also making their professional debuts will be Tyriesha “Baby Girl” Douglas and heavyweight Jerry Forrest, who defeated Kelly in the 2010 DMV Golden Gloves Regional Championships. Forrest recently linked up with the handlers of heavyweight prospect Seth Mitchell, which should give his promising young career a boost.[[MORE]]

If you read this site you know that Grayton is a former National Golden Gloves champ and fan favorite that has already developed a sizable following among local fight fans. Newby had an accomplished amateur career himself before a recent stint in the military, and Kelly is a promising young heavyweight under the tutelage of Headbangers trainer Barry Hunter, who also handles Grayton and the Peterson brothers. Unfortunately, I will be in Las Vegas that weekend for UNITY and to cover local lightweight Ty Barnett on Friday Night Fights for The Root DC, but if you are in the area, try to attend. There’s a good chance you will be watching one of these fighters on TV someday, and nothing compares to being there for the very beginning.

The news that Saul “Canelo” Alvarez will be defending his junior middleweight trinket on September 15th against Josesito Lopez wasn’t wholly unexpected after Lopez upset welterweight titlist Victor Ortiz, who was in line to fight Alvarez. That doesn’t make the matchmaking any less cowardly or despicable. Lopez is a warrior, a gritty pro who turned the tables and upset the heavily favored Ortiz by breaking his jaw during a nine-round barnburner in Los Angeles. But he’s also a natural junior welterweight, who will be risking serious injury by stepping into the ring with the formidable Canelo.

Alvarez has obvious talent and his star quality can’t be denied, yet his handlers insist on babying him to a ridiculous extent. Three prospective opponents have already dropped out of this fight, Paul Williams due to his tragic motorcycle accident, James Kirkland for reasons that remain unclear, and the aforementioned Ortiz. But even then, the full range of options at 154 is hardly exhausted. There was talk of a unification bout against titlist Austin Trout that fell through, and Miguel Cotto’s name was also mentioned. We continue to stump for a unification bout involving Detroit titlist Cornelius “K9 Bundrage, who would provide Canelo with the kind of rugged test he could use. Any credible junior middleweight would have been preferable to this ludicrous mismatch.

Instead, Golden Boy has decided to reward Lopez for his audacious win by feeding him to a younger, stronger fighter that will likely outweigh him by at least 15 pounds on fight night. Preventing such cases of fraud is what the sanctioning bodies and state commissions are supposed to do, but of course the disgusting organization that backs Alvarez will come up with some absurd rationale for why a fighter that has never fought above welterweight deserves a shot at the 154-lb belt. Meanwhile, over on HBO, the two top middleweights in the game will meet in the best potential matchup in boxing outside Mayweather-Pacquiao. We know which one we will be watching.

While I was at 12 Rounds Boxing Gym watching Barnett train, I also snuck a peak at trainer Duke Buchanan’s other pet project, Thomas "Top Dog” Williams Jr. Williams is a light heavyweight that moved to 9-0 (6 KOs) with a first-round TKO of Ariel Espinel at the Washington Convention Center this past weekend. While that bout wasn’t much of a test due to his out-of-shape and quickly injured opponent, Williams was back in the gym immediately and hard at work in the 90-degree heat. He throws his southpaw straight left hand with real power and has considerable pedigree to boot.

Williams’ father was a local heavyweight of the same name in the 1990s and 2000s, who showed tremendous potential himself before later being accused of throwing a fight. The senior Williams was in attendance toward the end of his son’s workout, and still towered over all assembled. Junior won’t ever fight above 200 lbs, but he does appear to have the work ethic and natural gifts that could make boxing a viable career for the near-term. We’ll be keeping an eye on his progress.

Jimmy Lange Boxing finally returns to George Mason University’s Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va. on October 27, 2012. An alum of the reality series The Contender, Lange suffered a leg injury that forced the cancellation of his June 23rd card at the same venue. No main event opponent has been announced as of yet. Lange’s fights draw healthy crowds in the neighborhood of 5,000 fans, despite featuring far less talent than the Babie Gurl card mentioned above, for example.

But the matchmaking and production values for the NoVa franchise are far superior to its D.C. counterparts, which are normally an unending parade of local prospects knocking out trucked-in opponents. Put simply, fans at a Jimmy Lange fight get their money’s worth, which is why they tend to come back for more. This card will doubtless feature the same motley crew from Northern Virginia boxing, including in all likelihood Todd “White Lightning” Wilson, Tony “Mo Better” Jeter, Zain “Tiger” Shah and the rest, with a possible cameo by faded former middleweight titlist William Joppy. Like I said, it ain’t HBO, but it is boxing. You could do a lot worse on a Friday night in Alexandria.