MYKAL "THE PROFESSOR" FOX DOMINATES JUAN RODRIGUEZ WITH SOLID TECHNICAL PERFORMANCE!
Kings Promotions did a wonderful job filling the seats at the Rosecroft Raceway in Fort Washington, MD last night. The competitive card had the fans cheering the entire night from start to finish.
The main event featured undefeated super lightweight Mykal "The Professor" Fox of Forestville, MD taking on Haymarket, VA's Juan "The Savior" Rodriguez in an eight-round contest.
Fox did what Fox is known to do in each bout he's been in and that is to take charge. Fox made it clear that he wasn't going to let Rodriguez be successful getting inside. Rodriguez tried in the first few rounds, but was met with a nice uppercut that left him with a bloody nose as the result. Fox made the quick adjustments and made Rodriguez pay for every attempt that followed. In the third round Rodriguez made another move to get inside and Fox made him regret it by landing a solid straight left hand to send Rodriguez down for the eight count. From then on it was nothing but punishment for Rodriguez. He suffered cuts around both eyes and ended each round walking back to his corner on rubbery legs. After being checked by one of the ringside physicians Rodriguez was given the okay to continue. In the seventh round referee Ken Chevalier kept a watchful eye on Rodriguez and seen that he didn't need to take anymore punishment from Fox. Referee Ken Chevalier stopped the contest at 2:00 of the seventh round.
Mykal Fox remains perfect at 12-0, (4 KO's) while Juan Rodriguez fall to 6-6-1, (5 KO's).
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In the co-feature on the card it was Bowie, MD's Luther "Lights Out" Smith transitioning from a 5-1, (4 KO's) heavyweight to making his cruiserweight debut taking on Mike Marshall of Bronx, NY.
Coming into this bout Smith knew it was necessary for him to drop down in weight to have a more successful career. He definitely made the right decision. In a solid performance Smith land a hard right hand to send Marshall down in the first round for the eight count from Brent Bovell. Smith finished the round strong when he landed another hard left hand followed by a overhand right to drop Marshallfor the final time. Referee Brent Bovell waived off the bout at 2:55 in round one.
Luther Smith has a successful cruiserweight debut and improves his overall record to 6-1, (5 KO's) as Marshall suffers his first defeat and falls to 3-1, (3 KO's).
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Waldorf, MD's Jordan White had to deal with three obstacles in his bout with Jose Elizondo of Monterrey, Mexico. Whites three new experiences were his first six rounder, tough opponent and going the distance for the first time. This was the type of fight the White camp said they wanted and needed for the nineteen year old Al Haymon fighter. White was 3-0, (3 KO's) coming into this bout with all three wins being first round KO's. His opponent Elizondo was 2-1.
The first three rounds were the type of rounds Jordan White's corner wanted. He was able to establish himself by landing the jab and hooks. White sent Elizondo to the canvas in the first and second rounds. It was late in the forth round when Elizondo turned the fight around to make it very competitive for White. Both fighters were making even exchanges in the last few rounds. White even finished the contest a little bloody, but the early knockdowns made the difference and convince the judges to give him the unanimous decision with the scores of 58-55 from Joe Gradowski, Brent Bovell and Paul Wallace had it the same 57-55.
Jordan White fought his way to remain undefeated at 4-0, (3 KO's) while Jose Elizondo is now 2-2.
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There were two undefeated out of town fighters on the card. Kent Cruz of Austin, TX battled Darius Ervin out of Los Angeles, CA .
The shorter Cruz had early problems trying to land the jab on the taller Ervin. Ervin was able to keep Cruz at a distance by using his jab for the first three rounds of the contest. Cruz started to double the jab to get closer to Ervin in round four. That change of plan worked perfectly. Cruz landed a left, right combination to send Ervin down but he was able to recover. Cruz came back with another right hand over the guard of Ervin with better results. Ervin wasn't able to recover in time causing referee Brent Bovell to stop the contest at 2:15 of round four.
Kent Cruz keeps his record perfect at 12-0, (7 KO's) and Ervin suffers his first defeat and now has a record of 3-1.
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Greg Outlaw of Glenarden, MD made his professional debut against Waldorf, MD's Lamont White in a four round contest. Outlaw started the first round trying to find his distance in order to land the jab he was using throughout the contest. White landed a few jabs of his own, but it was Outlaw that changed the direction of the fight. Outlaw used different angles to find his way inside and out of the guard of White. Outlaw landed the cleaner punches with a few of them being a triple jab to the face of White. All three judges saw the bout the same with the scores of 40-36 giving Outlaw the unanimous decision win.
Greg Outlaw start his professional career 1-0 while Lamont White fall to 0-5.
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Another local fighter made his professional debut on the Kings Promotions card. Accokeek, MD's "Slick" Justin Hurd, younger brother of "Swift" Jarrett Hurd took on a seemed to be tough debut bout when he faced Hector Mercado of Veracruz, Mexico, who had ten fights coming into the bout.
This bout was a tough fight for Hurd. Hurd started landing some good combinations in the opening round. In the next round Mercado came back with some shots of his own to back Hurd up for a moment. The noticeable thing throughout the bout was the fact that Mercado was able to spin and turn Hurd against the ropes too easy. It was the power shots Hurd landed at the end of each round that gave Justin Hurd the edge in this contest. Hurd got the unanimous decision from judges with the scores of 40-37 and 39-37 twice.
Justin starts his career 1-0 while Hector Mercado falls to 2-9.
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Kings Promotions fighter Marcus Bates of Washington, DC was in a six round contest against Francisco Muro of Tuscon, Arizona. This was the first scheduled six round bout for both Bates and Muro. Bates put on a solid performance when he got stronger as the rounds went on. Muro had his moments when he did land some shots on Bates, but it was Bates landing the shots that counted. It was the power and accuracy from Bates that sent Muro to the canvas four times in the contest. The damage on Muro was starting to show as Bates kept the pressure coming. The final knockdown was the one that caused the referee to stop the bout at 2:30 of round six.
Marcus Bates is now 5-0-1, (5 KO's) and Muro is 3-5, (1 KO).
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The opening bout of the night started with Edgewood, MD's Patrick Rivera taking on Hakeem Atkinson of Atlanta, GA in a four round contest.
It was a back and forth type of bout where neither fighter could establish themselves. Atkinson was able to land some overhand rights on Rivera but nothing to say he was in control from the start. The corner of Rivera was instructing him to use his jab and angles to create more opportunities for combinations. Atkinson maintained the use of his overhand right but it wasn't as successful during the rest of the fight. It was Rivera who landed more cleaner shots, but the bout looked closer than it should have been. Rivera won the contest by unanimous decision. The judges scores were not announced.
Patrick Rivera improves to 2-0, (1 KO) while Hakeem Atkinson is now 2-6-1, (1 KO).
(All photos courtesy of Daniel Cork / LatinBox Sports)
