By Gary “Digital” Williams at ringside

Bladensburg, MD female featherweight “The Dark Menace” Tiara Brown scored an impressive fifth-round TKO over Brittany “Pretty Girl” Cruz of Denver, CO in the main event of the Putney Promotions card at the Sphinx Club in Washington, DC.

After a feeling-out process in the first round, Brown went to work as she landed crushing body shots in the second round. One of her body shots, combined with a straight left to the head, dropped Cruz to the canvas.

The bout belonged to Brown the rest of the way as she pressured Cruz the rest of the contest. Brown ended the bout in the fifth round with a solid left to the body to drop Cruz for the last time. Cruz’s corner called a halt to the bout at 1:49. Brown, a DC police officer who will continue her boxing career as a DiBella Entertainment signee, remains undefeated at 5-0, three KO’s while Cruz is now 11-10-2, two KO’s.

“I was trying to use my jab more, Brown told Fightnews after the bout. “The jab sets up a lot of things. Oftentimes, fighters think the jab is not working when it actually is. So I used my jab and then ripped to the body.”

In the co-feature, DC welterweight Kareem “Reemo” Martin won a four-round majority decision over Baltimore’s Kevin “The Scarecrow” Womack, Jr. Martin came out strong in the first two rounds as he landed shots to Womack’s head and body. However, the veteran Womack seemed to turn the tide in the second half of the bout as he started to pressure the shorter Martin.

There was a pivotal point in the third round of the contest. Womack seemed to wobble Martin with a right hand. However, as Martin was staggering from Womack’s punches, referee Brent Bovell momentarily halted the action and did not rule a knockdown for Womack.

When the scorecards were announced, judges Dave Braslow and Wayne Smith scored the bout for Martin, 38-37 and 39-37 respectively. Judge Manuel Vicens saw the draw at 38-38.

Martin bounces back into the win column at 10-2-1, three KO’s. Womack falls to 8-16-4, six KO’s.

DC bantamweight Daron “Sweet Tay” Williams put on a great performance scoring a fourth-round TKO over Marco Mendoza Chico of Mexico City, Mexico.

Williams was incredibly accurate as he landed lefts to the head and rights to the body that knocked Mendoza all around the ring. Finally, in the fourth, Williams landed a crushing left uppercut that dropped Mendoza to one knee. Referee Michelle Myers called the bout off at 2:19 of the fourth. Williams remains undefeated at 7-0, four KO’s. Mendoza drops to 11-8-1, four KO’s.

In the opening contest, DC welterweight Cornell “Hitman” Hines won a relatively easy four-round unanimous decision over Samuel Forjoe of The Bronx, NY.

Hines was the aggressor throughout the bout, although Forjoe’s awkward style made him hard for Hines to hit at times. Forjoe fought in a mostly defensive manner, allowing Hines to win by shutout across the board, 40-36. Hines , who is trained by International Boxing Hall of Famer and DC native Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson, goes the distance for the first time and remains undefeated at 3-0, two KO’s. Forjoe remains winless at 0-4.

The matchmaker for the card was Chris Middendorf and the ring announcer was Henry “Discombobulating” Jones.