By Gary “Digital” Williams
Professional boxing makes its debut at the new Entertainment and Sports Arena in Washington, DC on Saturday, December 1st. The card, promoted by Tricky Entertainment and DC Fight Night, will feature a number of Beltway Boxers who are making returns after long absences. The Entertainment and Sports Arena is located at 1100 Oak Drive in Southeast DC.
Headlining the card will be popular DC welterweight Dusty Hernandez Harrison who will risk his undefeated record in a scheduled 10-round bout against James “Shotgun” Winchester of Reidsville, NC. Harrison (30-0-1, 16 KO’s) has not fought since September of 2016 when he won a 10-round unanimous decision over Thomas LaManna in Philadelphia, PA. Harrison won the USBA Welterweight title in that contest.
Winchester (20-13, eight KO’s) comes off a six-round unanimous decision loss to highly-touted Philadelphia prospect Jaron Ennis in March of 2017 in Philadelphia. Winchester has fought quality boxers throughout his career including Matt Korobov, Glen Tapia, Luis Arias and Terrell Gausha.
The co-feature is scheduled to have another DC welterweight in Kareem “Reemo” Martin, who will be in a eight-round contest against an opponent to be determined. Martin (10-2-1, three KO’s) won his last contest when he captured a four-round majority decision over Kevin Womack, Jr. on June 30th at the Sphinx Club in DC.
Also returning after a long absence will be Oxon Hill, MD light heavyweight Alexander “The Great” Johnson who will also be in an eight-round contest against an opponent to be named later. Johnson (16-4-1, seven KO’s) returns for the first time since battling to an eight-round majority draw with Egor Mekhontsev in August of 2016 in Tucson, AZ.
In six-round bouts will be undefeated Greenbelt, MD cruiserweight “The Vanilla Gorilla” Sam Crossed (7-0, five KO’s) and Silver Spring, MD heavyweight George Harris (1-0, one KO). In his last outing, Crossed delivered a Beltway Boxing Knockout Of The Year candidate on June 16th in Laurel, MD, knocking out Josh Jones in just 23 seconds. Harris made a successful pro debut on October 27th stopping Damion Reed at 39 seconds of the second round in Fort Washington, MD.
DC super lightweight Antonio “Teflon” Magruder makes his return to action in a four-round bout. Magruder (5-0, four KO’s) has not competed since winning a first-round TKO over Ronnie Watson in September of 2016 at the Sphinx Club.
Three other boxers make relatively quick returns to action on this card in four-round contests. Washington, DC junior featherweight Jordan “Shortdog” White (5-1, four KO’s) comes off a fourth-round TKO over Francisco Rodriguez on September 22nd in Bowie, MD. Landover, MD super lightweight Tyrek “I.G.B.” Irby (5-0, two KO’s) last fought on the same September 22nd card and won a four-round unanimous decision over Lamont White. Also in a four-round bout will be Hagerstown, MD super middleweight “The Sexy Albanian” Genc Pllana (2-0, one KO) who just fought on October 27th and won a six-round majority decision over Jason Bell in Fort Washington, MD.
Baltimore, MD middleweight Tyrell Boyd will make his pro debut on this card. Boyd is a former Regional Novice champion.
This card will be the first of three consecutive cards that will take place in December. After this card, there will be a card at the AC Jordan Arena at Bowie State University in Bowie, MD on Saturday, December 8th. That card will be followed by one at a new location — Tysons Playground in Vienna, VA on Saturday, December 15th.