By Gary “Digital” Williams at ringside

Michael “Slick” Anderson of Newark, NJ won a six-round unanimous decision over Haymarket, VA’s Juan De La Cruz Rodriguez in a welterweight main event contest Saturday night during the T.A.C. Promotions card at Tyson’s Playground in Vienna, VA.

Anderson, fighting for the first time since June of 2015, established control of the bout early as he was able to land continuous punches on Rodriguez. In the second round, Anderson landed a solid right uppercut that dropped Rodriguez to the canvas. Rodriguez beat referee Billy Johnson’s count but was boxing to survive the rest of the contest. Judges Michelle Myers and Mark D’Antillo scored the bout 58-55 while Judge Brian Costello saw the bout 57-56 all for Anderson, who raises his record to 17-2-1, 12 KO’s while Rodriguez falls to 8-13-1, six KO’s and has now lost six in a row.

The co-feature saw cruiserweight Arman “Gazija” Mrkanovic of Queens, NY by way of Bosnia score a fifth-round TKO over Antwaun Taylor of Cincinnati, OH. After a slow start, Mrkanovic was able to drop Taylor twice with looping right hands in the second round. The two men clashed heads in the fourth round, giving Mrkanovic a gash under his right eye. However, Mrkanovic did not falter and continued to land shots. In the fifth round, Mrkanovic landed a combination that would send Taylor through the ropes and out of the ring. Referee Brent Bovell issued a 20-count that Taylor beat back into the ring. However, Bovell saw that Taylor was not fit to continue and stopped the contest at 2:59 of the round. Mrkanovic’s record rises to 9-3, four KO’s while Taylor, a son of former WBA Heavyweight champion Tony Tubbs, falls to 4-8, one KO.

Arlington, VA super middleweight Filip Stankovic knocked out Keith Collins of Davenport, IA at 2:52 of the first round. Stankovic, a native of Nis, Serbia, had a large Serbian contingent, including the Serbian Ambassador to the United States, Gerge Matkovic, cheering him on and Stankovic wasted no time as he jumped on Collins early, landing hard body shots that eventually would open up punches to the head. Collins never went down but took enough punishment to force referee Bovell to stop the contest. Stankovic remains undefeated at 4-0 and gets his first pro knockout while Collins drops to 4-40, two KO’s.

In an all-Beltway welterweight rematch, Rashad “Code Blue” Kilpatrick won a four-round unanimous decision over Lamont White of Washington, DC. This bout opened a little differently then the first bout that Kilpatrick won on June 16th in Laurel, MD. White would land body shots in the first round but Kilpatrick would eventually return the shots and increase his work rate throughout the contest. Much like the bout in June, Kilpatrick would win this contest by scores of 40-36 and 39-37 (twice). Kilpatrick is now 4-0, one KO while White is now 1-16, one KO.

Heavyweight Nathaniel “The Juggernaut” Copeland, Jr. made a successful pro debut, needing just 44 seconds to knock out Kwasi “Hollywood” Horton of Waldorf, MD. Copeland, who wished to be billed as being from “All of Prince George’s County, MD,” used a right-left combination to send Horton crashing to the canvas. Horton’s eyes blinked rapidly as he tried to get up. Referee Johnson stopped the contest in mid-count. Horton’s record dropped to 0-2.

Jersey City, NJ’s Jordan Rosario won a four-round split decision over the debuting Thomas Hartshauser of Las Vegas, NV by way of Helsinki, Finland in a catchweight-like contest. Rosario, who weighed almost 10 pounds less than his opponent, was able to land some clean shots on Hartshauser in the bout. Hartshauser was able to use his own punches to get back into the bout but judges Myers and D’Antillo scored the bout for Rosario, 40-36 and 39-37 respectively. Hartshauser won judge Costello’s card, 39-37. This was the first win for Rosario, who is now 1-6.

The opening contest saw 30-year-old middleweight Zach “The Kid” Dubnoff make a successful pro debut over “The New Creation” Erik Plumeri of Lockport, NY. This was not an easy win for Dubnoff as he tasted the canvas early courtesy of a hard Plumeri right hand. Moments later, Dubnoff would use his own right hand to send Plumeri to the floor. Plumeri would beat referee Bovell’s count but would take more punishment before the bout was stopped at 2:35 of the first round. Plumeri’s record is now 0-9-1.

T.A.C. Promotions is led by Anthony Hamilton. The matchmaker was Cedric Harden. This reporter served as ring announcer.