Stiff Jab 2013 Prospect of the Year: Mike Reed

Mike Reed photos by StiffJab.com & Juan Marshall of ProAmFightTalk 

by Gautham Nagesh 

There are plenty of talented young boxers in the DMV, but Waldorf, Md. prospect Mike “Yes Indeed” Reed (left) separated himself from the pack over the past 12 months. For fighting and winning six times last year, Mike Reed is the 2013 Stiff Jab Prospect of the Year.

We were ringside for all of Mike’s wins last year, and can testify to his considerable growth after every fight. While most fighters his age are content to beat up on tomato cans, Reed has been stepping up the competition every time out. Those interested in tracking his progress should head to Rosecroft Raceway tonight, where Reed will headline tonight’s Keystone Boxing show against Jorge Marquez.

In his last bout, Reed dominated the previously unbeaten Randy Fuentes at Rosecroft Raceway on October 18, winning a unanimous decision in his second straight turn as the headliner for Keystone. That came on the heels of his scintillating win over Ramesis Gil the previous month, reinforcing Reed’s status as the most proven young prospect in the Washington, D.C. region.

After just six fights, Reed is drawing national media attention despite not signing with a manager or promoter. If keeps producing results like these, Reed knows it won’t be long before some of the sport’s top power brokers start calling.

“When we first turned pro, we wanted to take the free agent route,” Reed told Stiff Jab. "After every fight, it seems like we get one or two calls from a manager or a promotional company. Right now I’m absolutely happy to be self-managed and self-promoted.“

Reed was also quick to credit Keystone for allowing him space on their shows to build his record. The youngster shows impressive maturity and perspective for someone his age, knowing that the road to the top doesn’t necessarily get easier once you sign with a big promoter.

"Say I was signed with Golden Boy, I wouldn’t really be the priority. I had my first professional fight in March. Right now I would have only two or three fights if signed with a big promotional company,” Reed said.

A squat southpaw with great balance, the most encouraging aspect of Mike’s game is his composure inside the ring. He mixes offense and defense well, using distance and head movement better than most young fighters. Still, Reed gave himself a grade of “C” for his fight against Fuentes, admitting that he got hit too much.

“But I think that was because [Fuentes] didn’t have too much punching power,” Reed said.

The Gil fight was a far more explosive affair. In his previous fight, Gil had lost a split decision to unbeaten Philly prospect Karl Dargan, and his last ten bouts have come against unbeaten prospects. Taking on Gil in just his fifth professional fight was a stern test for Reed, and one he passed with flying colors, though not without surviving some tense moments first.

“Ramesis Gil was my first six-rounder. I had to break Ramesis down to the body. I took the same approach with Randy,” Reed said. “Having to go six full rounds, I knew I had to put in that body work.”

The two began trading rapid combinations from in close, with Reed doing his best to stay defensively responsible. Both fighters were the same size, and Reed’s speed advantage was mostly negated by Gil’s huge edge in experience. But Mike’s youth appeared to be the difference, as he kept coming forward and soon caught Gil on the side of the head with a looping left hand. Gil went down and rose quickly, affected but not seriously hurt.

Gil turned up the pressure in the middle rounds, but Reed never lost his cool. He punched between his opponent’s blows, and always managed to avoid getting caught with the meat of Gil’s gloves. That ability to avoid getting hit cleanly should serve Reed well if and when he reaches the top level of the sport.

Every fighter gets hit eventually, and Reed is no different. Gil checked Reed’s chin with a hard right hand in the 5th, wobbling Mike and forcing him to hold on briefly. Gil kept bringing the pressure, but Reed recovered and pulled back to avoid a lazy left hook from his opponent. Gil left himself wide open, and Reed filled the gap with a perfect overhand left, which sent Gil down for the second time of the night.

Back on top, Reed took control in the sixth. Eventually a hard right hook to the chin staggered Gil, setting Reed up for a final, clinical right hook to the chin to end the night. The ref stepped in to stop the fight as Gil lay flat on his back, clearly unsure as to what had happened. Meanwhile, Mike Reed sprang across the ring in celebration, having come through the fire nearly untouched.

After staying busy and notched a few quality wins, Reed has answered pretty much all the questions one can have for a fighter after just one year as a pro. Fortunately, the young man has a full life, including studying accounting at the College of Southern Maryland in La Plata. Given the financial difficulties that so many fighters face after their careers, it seems like a savvy choice of a major.

“Ever since I’ve been little, I’ve always loved math,” Reed said. “I thought math was the only subject to always make sense, there was always an answer to your problem. In 10th grade my school had an accounting program. The only thing I knew was that accountants deal with numbers, and I was good at it. The rest was history.”

As for the Sweet Science, Reed remains under the tutelage of his father, Coach Buck. He spars with a number of local fighters including lightweight Terron Grant and amateur standout Lamont Roach Jr., and insists that he will be able to make lightweight (135 lbs) even though he walks around at over 150 lbs. and typically weights between 147-150 lbs on fight night.

Almost all of Reed’s fights have been fought closed to the junior welterweight limit of 140 lbs; he won the National Golden Gloves title at 141 lbs in 2011 as an amateur.

“I know for a fact I can make 135. Normally, the older you get, the more your body matures, the harder it is to lose weight,” Reed said. “It’s easy for me to get to 140, and easy to get to 135.”

Tonight marks Reed’s first bout of 2014, and if the number of headlines are any indication, this will be the year the boxing world finally learns his name. The next, natural question: Is Mike Reed for real? From where we sit, the answers is Yes Indeed.