Yes Indeed: Mike Reed KOs Roberto Lopez At Rosecroft
Photos by Gautham Nagesh for StiffJab.com
by Gautham Nagesh
FORT WASHINGTON, Md.–The abundance of talent in the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia boxing scene is a constant theme on this site. No region outside of of the Southwest is home to more promising unbeaten prospects than the DMV. Most of them you’re familiar with from reading this site, and there are more waiting in the wings to turn professional
Naturally, the most common question other writers ask me is, who’s the best? My answer often changes based on who I’ve seen last. Sometimes it’s super middleweight Jerry Odom, sometimes Baltimore teenager Gervonta Davis, who headlines next week at Coppin State. But I’m guilty of sleeping on one name that should definitely be in the mix, especially after his stellar showing last night: 2011 Stiff Jab Amateur Boxer of the Year Mike Reed (above) of Waldorf, Md.
Reed looked superb at Rosecroft Raceway on Saturday night, handing Orlando native Ricardo Lopez his first stoppage loss in the co-feature of a card from Keystone Boxing. Jarrett “Swift” Hurd (below) was almost as impressive in the main event, stopping Joshua Barnes of Garland, Texas to cap one of the most entertaining local cards in recent memory.
Reed has been chomping at the bit for a real fight, especially after facing the reticent DeMarcus Rogers last month. On Saturday night, Lopez provided the perfect foil for Reed, who looked polished and dynamic while handling the Orlando native. Reed showed impressive handspeed and even better footwork; at times Mike skipped and danced around the ring like a young Sugar Ray Leonard. Reed’s ability to side-step and slip punches is well beyond his tender years; that unwillingness to be hit is perhaps the best indicator of his future potential.
Both fighters came out quickly, jabbing and fighting from the outside. Reed is a cool customer both in and out of the ring, and a patient fighter by nature. He keeps his hands low and ready to throw from his southpaw stance, confident in his ability to move his head to avoid any sudden blows. Reed started the fight as the aggressor, deliberately stalking the more experienced Lopez, who tried to move and box. Lopez attempted to respond with wide punches, but Reed’s straight shots were both crisper and more accurate.
Before long Reed was landing clean punches on Lopez’s head and torso, while the Orlando native tried to respond, without much success. Lopez was clearly trying, but overmatched against a fighter as polished as Reed. A hard straight left hand from Reed landed flush at the end of the round, immediately creating a welt around Lopez’s eye. The visitor returned to his corner knowing he was in for painful evening.
To his credit, Lopez came out for the 2nd round with a new approach, trying to pressure the younger fighter and get rough on the inside. Lopez fired punches in bunches, throwing everything in his arsenal in an attempt to overwhelm Reed. Mike barely blinked, responding instead with his own combinations, followed by quick steps to either side to avoid his opponent’s counters. Reed gets in and out expertly, with very little wasted motion or effort. Lopez looked like a confused cartoon character at times, punching the empty space his opponent has just occupied seconds earlier.
By the 3rd, Lopez was beaten both mentally and physically. Reed kept pouring it on, following him to the ropes and unleashing a barrage until the referee was forced to stop the fight. Reed strutted around the ring and unleashed a lion’s roar in triumph, having finally shown the local fight fans exactly what he is capable of as a professional. Reed’s low-key nature has prevented him from getting as much attention as some of his local peers, but Saturday night may begin to change that.
A former National Golden Gloves champion at 141 lbs., Reed’s technical skills and physical gifts are without question. The only negative on his promise is his squat stature, which give him a significant disadvantage in reach. Mike has been fighting around 140 lbs. since his teenage days, but assures me he will be able to get down to lightweight, or even 130, when needed. I hope he’s right, because junior welterweight would be a tough road to hoe. At lightweight or junior lightweight, Mike Reed looks like a future contender at worst.
The main even delivered a similarly explosive result, as Hurd broke down and stopped Barnes late in the second round. Hurd is not known as a huge puncher, but he was too big and too strong for the Texas to withstand his body assault. Hurd bided his time and continuously went downstairs, before trapping Barnes in the corner and unleashing fury until the referee was forced to intervene. Official time was 2:39 of Round 2.
With the win, Hurd moves to 7-0 (4 KOs), and looks to be building a case to be considered one of the area’s best prospects at junior middleweight. Hurd had an excellent amateur career in his own right and has excellent size and reach for 154 lbs. If he stays on track and continues to develop, we would eventually love to see Hurd challenge Stiff Jab favorite David “Day Day” Grayton for a chance to move on to bigger and better things. But the odds of that happening are slim, because promising DMV fighters almost never face each other until they are well over the hill.
D.C. light heavyweight Greg Newby of Lime Lite Boxing continued his pro journey with a four-round unanimous decision win over P.J. Cajigas of Chicago. A former member of the Coast Guard, Newby is a bit older than the average prospect but also a good deal more mature. He needed every bit of that composure when he was caught off-balance and put down by a blow from Cajigas early in the first round. From where we sat it looked like a slip, but the referee still tolled the count, much to Newby’s frustration.
After the re-start, Newby settled into the fight, dodging the Chicagoan’s blows and landing a few good shots of his own, including a hard uppercut. Cajigas was very game and clearly not interested in losing after going 0-1-1 in his first two professional fights. He tried to bring the fight inside, but Newby was ready, and appeared to be the stronger man when the two were in close.
By the 2nd, Newby’s body punches were forcing Cajigas to drop his hands. I remarked to my neighbor, the excellent Gary “Digital” Williams, that Cajigas was wide open for the right hand, and Newby made me look prophetic a moment later by flooring Cajigas with a short right. Gary roared in delight, while the crowd rose to its feet, happy their man was rising to the occasion. Cajigas showed a fighter’s temperament by rising and coming back fiercely, but Newby was pumped up and ready. Both men threw caution to the win and began wailing on each other, throwing their biggest shots with no fear of repercussions.
A hard right from Newby at the end of the 2nd bloodied Cajigas’ nose, then he shifted his focus back downstairs to start the third. Newby gets excellent leverage on his hooks to the body, likely a product of fighting in D.C. gyms, where the body attack is paramount. Cajigas landed a few hard shots of his own, as both men got their licks in, but Newby appeared both stronger and more defensively responsible. Going rounds against a tough customer like Cajigas will surely pay dividends down the road for Greg as he continues his journey.
Still, the early knockdown meant the fight was till in doubt heading into the 4th and final round. Newby staggered Cajigas with a hard right hand late in the round, but a delayed reaction to a low blow bought the Chicagoan time to recover. Cajigas proved a bit petty on the re-start, punching Newby below the belt several times as the fought viciously on the inside. Newby repaid his foe’s dirty tactics by smashing him with a right hand, then trapping him against the ropes and pummeling him with punches.
Cajigas reached out desperately to smother Newby with a hug, and the pair fell awkwardly to the mat as the final bell sounded. As they tumbled, I saw Cajigas whisper something in Greg’s ear and feared a brawl might break out. As usual, I was wrong, and sadly cynical about these admirable men that fight for a living. Both Greg and P.J. smiled, rose, and embraced. This too is part of boxing, as much as crooked judges, corrupt officials, and shady matchmakers. None of those peripheral miscreants can negate the greatness of spirit often displayed inside the ring.
The final scorecards for Newby were academic, but ring announcer Henry “Discombobulating” Jones took the moment to remind the crowd that Newby’s Lime Lite gym-mate Malik Jackson recently took home the bronze medal at a major international amateur competition in Ukraine. As Jones noted, a bronze in the Ukraine means Jackson was in all likelihood the best boxer there.
D.C. light heavyweight Alexander Johnson returned to the ring for the first time since suffering his first loss against Luis Garcia on ShoBox in December 2011. Johnson bullied Greg Hackett of Philadelphia (2-11, 0 KOs) for six rounds to earn a unanimous decision. Family trouble contributed to Johnson’s dismal showing on against Garcia, but he looked to be in better spirits on this night. Johnson has served as a sparring partner to some of the bigger names at super middleweight and light heavyweight, so he had little trouble with Hackett. Whether he will take another shot at the top level remains to be seen.
The fight of the night featured a pair of debutantes: David Rohn of Chicago and Jerrell “Supa” Scott, who brought a sizable cheering section with him from Largo, Md. Scott entered the ring with a posse that would have made M.C. Hammer proud, while Rohn was considerably low-key. Opponents from Chicago are usually tough, and Rohn originally hails from Grand Haven, Mich., so you know he’s been in at least a few scraps, regardless of his scanty pro record.
Scott prayed in his corner before the bell, then came out looking very composed. Scott is a long, lean middleweight that fights with his hands low and his feet set wide apart. Rohn is the opposite, a squat bulldog of a fighter prone to bursts of energy followed by periods of covering up. Rohn’s frantic bullrushes did prove effective, especially when he threw four or five punches in rapid succession while surging forward. One of those rushes led to knockdown in the opening round, as Rohn caught Scott with a left and sent him tumbling into the ropes.
The two tussled against the ropes for the rest of the round, before the bell separated them. Scott looked better in the second, improving his defense and landing several hard right hands. Scott’s greater quickness helped him beat Rohn to the punch on a simultaneous exchange, sending Rohn to the mat and evening the scorecards. The knockdown invigorated Scott, and he began stalking his prey like a panther, the muscles rippling on his wiry frame.
Scott kept controlling distance to start the 3rd, but Rohn closed the gap sporadically by pouncing when least expected. A right hook from nowhere caught Scott and put him down for the second time, stunning his ringside contingent. A wide left hook from Rohn followed, but Scott responded with a cracker of a right hand. Both men kept punching until the end of the round as the crowd went wild. They showed once again that a great fight is a great fight, regardless of context.
By the 4th and final round, I had pinpointed Scott’s tendency to pull straight back with his hands low to avoid punches. That enables him to avoid the first shot, but he often gets caught with the second and third. Slipping, blocking, or stepping to the side would be a useful step, since currently Scott always get hit with the second or third punch. Rohn only throws combinations while charging straight forward, making Scott the perfect opponent for his approach.
This was a very tough first fight for Scott, who received no favors from matchmaker Brian Dillon despite his sizable fanbase. Rohn was tailor-made to upset Scott’s debut, and that’s exactly what he did, winning a unanimous decision. It was the correct outcome, and Scott acknowledged as much by clapping along with great sportsmanship. The crowd was pained, but appreciative of both fighters, and showed enthusiasm at the prospect of a rematch. Definitely a fight I would watch again.
Scott wasn’t the only local fighter to face a tough debut on this night. Capitol Heights, Md. native Devon Mosley danced to the ring for his first pro bout at cruiserweight in great spirits; he was clearly enjoying his moment the spotlight. The showboating continued after the fight started, as Mosley looked to have underestimated his out of town opponent. He would pay for the mistake, and require a little help from the officials to avoid his first loss.
Santos Martinez is from Adrian, Mich. and fights out of Bob Kerr Boxing, just minutes from my hometown. Mid-Michigan is mostly known for producing opponents, but unlike those from Wilson, N.C, Michiganders come to fight. I’ve seen Martinez fight before; as Henry Jones would say, he’s not new to this, but he’s true to this. Martinez makes up for his lack of polish with effort and toughness. Martinez avoided Mosley’s early flurries and began roughing him up within the first round.
Gary Williams informed me that Mosley has a 2-1 record as an MMA fighter, and he certainly looked like someone that can fight a bit, as he attempted to time Martinez with his counters. But Martinez kept plunging forward, and Mosley couldn’t get out of the way of his clubbing right hands. Mosley stood his ground in the 4th and fought back, much to the crowd’s appreciation. Things grew rough at times, and portions of the bout would have been more appropriate for the Octagon than the ring. But both men did everything they could to win, which is all you can ask.
The final scorecards read 40-36 for Martinez, 39-37 for Mosley and 38-38, resulting in a split draw. All but the 3-1 card for Mosley were understandable; we had Martinez as the clear winner. Regardless, it was a good fight, and both men earned their pay.
The same was true of the first bout between Glenn Thomas of East Stroudsburg, Pa. and Deverine Miner of Capitol Heights. This was also a good fight, but Miner may want to re-consider whether boxing is for him. Despite coming into the ring with the monike “6'9”, Brian Dillon informed us Miner was 6'8" at best. He came up short in the ring too, as the smaller Thomas was able to out-work him using superior technique. Miner had his moments, thanks mostly to his massive size advantage, but his lack of conditioning showed in the 287 lbs. he brought to the ring.
Thomas sensed his foe’s fade and stepped it up in the third round, as both men stopped boxing and started fighting with real animosity. The crowd loved it; who doesn’t enjoy a good heavyweight scrap? By the 4th round, Thomas was pounding on Miner, who only had energy to fire back in the final ten seconds.
The final scores were unanimous: all three judges had it 39-37 for Thomas, who scored his first pro win in two attempts. Kudos to him, and to Dillon and Keystone Boxing, for delivering one of the most entertaining local shows in recent memory. You can be sure I will be back next week when the venue shifts to Baltimore’s Coppin State University.