WBA, IBF and WBO light heavyweight champion Andre “S.O.G.” Ward (32-0, 17 KO) scored a eight-round TKO victory over Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev (30-2-1, 26 KO). Kovalev did good work with his jab, but wasn’t doing damage with power shots the way he did in the first fight. Instead, It was Ward, who was landing the harder shots. The rounds were tough to score because Kovalev held the edge in punches landed, but Ward was landing more damaging shots.
Shabazz Brotherz Promotions does not want to hold the title of being just a "Local Promoter" from the Baltimore area. Their goal is to become a solid promotional company in the sport of boxing. They have promoted shows that turned onlookers into new boxing fans. After the growing number of shows they put on throughout the years Shabazz told fighters that they would have to step up their game because he wanted to put on more competitive bouts for the fans. That's a promise he has kept and by doing so Shabazz Brotherz Promotions won the 2016 Beltway Boxing Card Of The Year Award to open up the year of 2017.
The Shabazz Brotherz put on another competitive card last night at the Coppermine Du Burns Arena in Baltimore, MD that proved the local fighters will continue to be challenged if they want to compete in the sport of boxing at a higher level.
In a highly anticipated main-event bout it was Tyriesha "Lady Tiga" Douglas winning the vacant Universal Boxing Federation Female Super Flyweight championship by TKO in the fourth-round over Ebony "The Storm" Rivera of Fayetteville, NC. It was the quickness of Douglas that was the dominating factor in the contest. Douglas's power was shown often throughout the bout when she would land three to four punch combinations while Rivera only had one or two shots to answer in return. Douglas's punches took it's toll on Rivera when she landed a shot to the head that sent Rivera into the ropes and forced referee Brent Bovell to stop the fight at 35 seconds of the round. With this victory Tyrieshia Douglas is a three time UBF title holder in the flyweight, super flyweight and bantamweight divisions. Douglas is now (12-1, 5 KO's) while Rivera suffers her first defeat and is now (7-1, 3 KO's).
Baltimore, Maryland light heavyweight Travis "Seveer" Reeves defeated Josue "Chiquilin" Obando of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico by fourth-round disqualification in the co-featured bout. This contest was filled with warnings from referee Kenny Chevalier to Obando for using his arm for measuring and also numerous times for holding when Reeves was able to get inside the guard of Obando. Points were deducted from Obando in the second and third rounds for holding. If Obando used his height and reach properly he would have made this bout a more competitive fight for the stronger Reeves, but Obando continued to hold so at 19 seconds of the fourth-round referee Kenny Chevalier disqualified Josue Obando. Reeves is now (15-2-2, 7KO's) and Obando is now (14-16-1, 11KO's).
Travis Reeves vs Josue Obando
Also a added feature to the card was heavyweight Jerry "Slug" Forrest out of Newport News, VA winning a six-round unanimous decision over Grover "The Cobra" Young of Memphis, TN. Forrest dominated the entire bout by consistently using his jab in every round. Young tried taking advantage of the last few seconds of some rounds to land some looping shots to the head of Forrest but it wasn't enough to overshadow the great use of Forrest's jab. Forrest won by the scores of 58-56 and 59-55 (twice) to improve his record to (16-2, 13 KO's) while Young falls to (12-24-3, 8 KO's).
Jerry Forrest vs Grover Young
It was a tough night for the remaining Baltimore fighters on the card.
In a tough moment after the passing of his dad this year in March, Stephon "The Surgeon" Morris suffered the first defeat of his young career. In a scheduled four-round middleweight contest Shane Pearson from Statesville, NC, scored a shocking first-round TKO over Morris. The bout starting with both fighting slugging it out on the inside. Morris backed Pearson up towards the ropes but was met by a right uppercut to send Morris backwards into the ropes across the ring. After a brief separation from the referee Pearson landed another right uppercut followed by a straight left hand to send Morris to the canvas. That knockdown caused referee Dave Braslow to stopped the bout at 2:10. Morris falls to (4-1, 3 KO's) while Pearson is (2-1, 2 KO's).
Stephon Morris vs Shane Pearson
In another middleweight bout, it was Aidos Yerbossynuly of Almaty, Kazakhstan dominating Baltimore's Devin "Bite" Butcher to get a six-round unanimous decision. It was Butcher who made it very easy for Yerbossynuly to establish the consistency of his offense without having to use much defense at all. Yerbossynuly came out in every round setting the pace of the entire fight by coming forward while Butcher's lack of punching output made this a very easy bout to score for the judges. The judges all had the bout for Yerbossynuly with scores of 60-53 and 59-54 (twice). Yerbossynuly remains undefeated at (6-0, 5 KO's) while Butcher is now (6-2, 3 KO's).
For the first time Baltimore super featherweight Mack "Papi" Allison IV goes the distance to get a four-round majority draw with Matt Murphy of St. Louis, MO. Allison had a good first round. He used his jab to set up a few combinations that gave him the early edge. Murphy made a strong comeback in the last three rounds of the bout. Allison landed a few power shots but looked to be getting bothered by the power of Murphy's punches. In the closing round it was a phone booth finish of both fighters exchanging shots until the sound of the bell. Judge John Gradowski had Allison winning the bout with a score of 39-37 but was overruled by judges Brent Bovell and Dave Braslow with the scores of 38-38. Allison remains undefeated at (7-0-1, 7 KO's) while Murphy is now (2-13-2, 2 KO's).
Shabazz Brotherz Promotions does not want to hold the title of being just a "Local Promoter" from the Baltimore area. Their goal is to become a solid promotional company in the sport of boxing. They have promoted shows that turned onlookers into new boxing fans. After the growing number of shows they put on throughout the years Shabazz told fighters that they would have to step up their game because he wanted to put on more competitive bouts for the fans. That's a promise he has kept and by doing so Shabazz Brotherz Promotions won the 2016 Beltway Boxing Card Of The Year Award to open up the year of 2017. 
In a highly anticipated main-event bout it was Tyriesha "Lady Tiga" Douglas winning the vacant Universal Boxing Federation Female Super Flyweight championship by TKO in the fourth-round over Ebony "The Storm" Rivera of Fayetteville, NC. It was the quickness of Douglas that was the dominating factor in the contest. Douglas's power was shown often throughout the bout when she would land three to four punch combinations while Rivera only had one or two shots to answer in return. Douglas's punches took it's toll on Rivera when she landed a shot to the head that sent Rivera into the ropes and forced referee Brent Bovell to stop the fight at 35 seconds of the round. With this victory Tyrieshia Douglas is a three time UBF title holder in the flyweight, super flyweight and bantamweight divisions. Douglas is now (12-1, 5 KO's) while Rivera suffers her first defeat and is now (7-1, 3 KO's). 