First Time For Boxing At The Live! Casino In Maryland!

Tony Jeter of Jeter Promotions will bring the first professional boxing card to the Maryland Live! Casino in Hanover, MD on Saturday August 18, 2018. 

Article by, Gary "Digital" Williams 

The main event puts Laurel, MD super middleweight Demond "D'Best At It" Nicholson against Issac Rodrigues of Belem, Para, Brazil.  Nicholson (18-3-1, 17 KO's) will look to bounce back from suffering a seventh-round TKO loss to Jesse Hart on April 28th in Philadelphia, PA.  Nicholson has lost two of his last three contests.  Rodrigues (25-2, 20 KO's) is on an eight-bout winning streak including a fourth-round TKO win over Frankie Filippone on June 8th in Verona, NY.  The bout was Rodrigues's first in almost two years.

Many local fans are already talking about the co-feature contest, a bout the defines the phrase "crossroads bout."  Undefeated Forestville, MD super lightweight Mykal "The Professor" Fox will battle former WBO Super Lightweight champion DeMarcus "Chop Chop" Corley of Washington, DC. There is a 22-year difference between the two boxers (Fox is 22, Corley is 44) and Fox was seven months old when Corley began his pro career in May of 1996.

Fox (17-0, four KO's) last fought on May 11th and won an eight-round unanimous decision over Anthony Mercado in Philadelphia, PA.  Recently, Fox moved into the number one position in the USBA's Super Lightweight rankings.  This will be the second 10-round contest for Fox, who went that distance with Manuel Alejandro Reyes on November 11th in Bethlehem, PA.  Defeating Reyes earned Fox his first regional title, the UBF All-Americas Welterweight championship.

Corley (51-31-1, 28 KO's) is looking to break a two-bout losing streak that includes a 12-round unanimous decision loss to former WBA Super Lightweight titleholder Vivian Harris on July 21st in Memphis, TN.  This will be Corley's fifth bout in 2018 and will be the first local bout for Corley since he defeated Daniel Attah by 10-round unanimous decision at the Washington Convention Center in September of 2014.

An interesting bout on the card will be a four-round lightweight contest between "The Red Comet" Dante Cox of Elkridge, MD and Latorie Woodberry of Roanoke, VA.  For Cox, this will be truly competing in front of his home crowd as he works at Live! Casino as a bartender in the Prime Rib Restaurant.  Cox (2-0, one KO) is coming off a first-round TKO over Tyshae Ferguson on June 16th at the Gardens Ice House in Laurel, MD.  Woodberry (2-6-2) last fought on June 8th and won a four-round majority decision over Mike Conway in Pittsburgh, PA.

There will be a six-round, all-Maryland middleweight bout between Columbia's Ashton "The Goon" Sykes and Baltimore's "Dangerous" Donald Wallace. Sykes (2-1) bounced back from his first pro loss by winning a four-round unanimous decision over Alberto Delgado on June 29th at Martin's West in Woodlawn, MD.  Wallace (2-1-1, one KO) looks to bounce back from a four-round unanimous decision to Zarifbek Nishanbaev in July of 2017 at Michael's Eighth Avenue in Glen Burnie, MD. 

Speaking of Nishanbaev, "The Uzbek Warrior" of Arlington, VA by way of Kyrgyzstan will be on this card in a four-round super welterweight bout against veteran Kevin "The Scarecrow" Womack, Jr. of Baltimore.  Nishanbaev (4-1, three KO's) won his last outing by first-round TKO over Cordell Powell on April 28th in Phoenix, AZ.  Womack (8-16-4, six KO's) lost a tough four-round majority decision to Kareem Martin on June 30th in Washington, DC.

In a six-round middleweight rematch, undefeated Francisco "The Cisco Kid" Bustos of Rockville, MD will battle Jauvan John of Brooklyn, NY.  The two boxers fought their last contest against one another on June 16th in Laurel, MD with Bustos (7-0, four KO's) winning a close, four-round unanimous decision over John (2-6-1).

A four-round cruiserweight contest will have Charles Johnson of Washington, DC (0-1) taking on the debuting Chester Stewart of Bowie, MD.  Johnson lost his pro debut against Mushin Cason by four-round unanimous decision in Woodlawn, MD.  Stewart is a former quarterback who played his college ball at Temple University and professionally with the Baltimore Ravens.

The card is scheduled to begin at 7 PM ET with the main event broadcast live on the CBS Sports Network at 9 PM ET.  Tickets can be purchased by going to www.livecasinohotel.com.