Opening Bell: Phil-Jackson Benson Would Like to Thank Al Haymon
by Gautham Nagesh
It may seem like a regular feature of this column by now, but boxing powerbroker Al Haymon has signed another one of the DMV’s top young fighters. This time it’s super middleweight Phil Jackson-Benson, and the news comes to us courtesy of the irreplaceable Gary “Digital” Williams of Boxing Along the Beltway.
We’ve covered most of Jackson-Benson’s recent fights, and he improved steadily over the course of three bouts in 2013. At age 29, Phil is 13-1 with 12 KOs. He’s definitely heavy-handed, but tends to wear fighters down rather than stopping them with a single blow. Jackson-Benson is big and strong for his weight class, and more than comfortable fighting on the inside, as he showed while beating Maxell Taylor Jr. at Club One Fitness last year.[[MORE]]
168 is one of the sport’s deepest divisions, but there’s no reason Jackson-Benson couldn’t eventually find his way into a meaningful fight, perhaps against the likes of J'Leon Love or Anthony Dirrell. Almost 30 is too old to be considered a prospect, so he’ll need to step up the competition soon if he wants to become a contender while still in his prime. We look forward to seeing Phil get that chance now that he’s the latest member of Team Haymon.
Dominic Wade Headlines ShoBox on June 27: Another local fighter signed with Team Haymon is Dominic Wade, and it looks like the 24-year-old is ready to make his debut as a headliner on national TV. Wade will battle Albany’s Nick Brinson in the ShoBox main event at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas on Friday, June 27. It will be Brinson’s second appearance on ShoBox, after topping Jorge Melendez in upstate New York last June.
Wade appears to be be moving down to middleweight after campaigning of late at 168 lbs. It’s a great move, and should give him a major size and reach advantage over most opponents. Brinson is tough and skilled but isn’t much of a puncher, so Wade should be able to take the lead and impress the national audience. A loss for either fighter would be a major setback, if not a disaster.
The triple-header also features two 2012 U.S. Olympians we’ve been following closely: light heavyweight Marcus Browne of Staten Island, N.Y. and welterweight Errol Spence Jr. of DeSoto, Texas. Browne will take a step up against former contender Yusaf Mack, who has looked badly faded of late. Spence will be challenged by veteran hardman Ronald Cruz of Bethlehem, Pa. All three bouts are scheduled for ten rounds.
Photo by Will Hart for G4
Dusty Harrison Added to July 26 Golovkin-Geale Card at MSG: D.C. welterweight prospect Dusty Hernandez-Harrison will return to action next month on the undercard of Gennady Golovkin vs. Daniel Geale at Madison Square Garden in New York. Harrison improved to 22-0 (12 KOs) last month with a dominating 4th-round stoppage of Roberto Valenzuela in Chester, W.Va.
Valenzuela was welcome respite after Dusty survived a shaky outing on ESPN against Michael Balasi in March. This will be Dusty’s third time fighting on a GGG undercard, which can’t hurt given the Kazakh’s rapid rise in the boxing world. The HBO telecast will also feature unbeaten heavyweights Bryant Jennings of Philadelphiaand “Irish” Mike Perez squaring off. K2 Promotions and Gary Shaw Productions are the promoters of record.
Tori Nelson Returns June 28th: Female welterweight titlist Tori Nelson of Ashburn, Va. returns to action on June 28th at Du Burns Arena in Baltimore against Nicole Woods of Atlanta. Nelson is coming off a second-round stoppage of faded former star Mia St. John last month at Northern Virginia Community College.
Nelson is now unbeaten in after 12 pro fights, but has drawn twice with Teresa Perozzi in her native Bermuda. Woods is an opponent, but a tough one, and should keep Nelson busy until a third bout with Perozzi can be scheduled. It’s also nice to see another local fighter building a following, and proving that fans will support any fighter, male of female, if they have the goods.
The co-feature will match Baltimore’s Willie Williams against Frankie Filippone of Norfolk, Va. at light heavyweight. Also scheduled to fight on the Ponytail Promotions card are unbeaten local prospects James “Keep ‘Em Sleepin” Stevenson, Tyriesha Douglas, Demond Nicholson, Jeremy Trussell and Seth Billups.