By Gary “Digital” Williams at ringside
Laurel, MD super middleweight Demond “D Best At It” Nicholson scored a first-round technical knockout over Jessie “The Beast” Nicklow of Baltimore, MD to win the Maryland State Super Middleweight title in front of a sellout crowd at Live! Casino in Hanover, MD. The bout was the main event of a Jeter Promotions card.
Nicholson made an interesting crossroads bout very easy by landing strong body shots followed by a strong straight left hand that dropped Nicklow on the seat of his pants. Nicklow beat the count but was on shaky legs. Referee David Braslow took a look and stopped the contest at 1:16.
“The jab was always in the plan,” Nicholson told reporters after the bout. “The body shots were a little bit different for me. Everything I learned showed up tonight.”
“I saw that he wasn’t warmed up for the bout, so I tried to jump on him,” Nicklow said. “I just got caught. It’s boxing. He can really punch.”
Nicholson wins his third straight contest and raises his record to 21-3-1, 20 KO’s. Nicklow falls to 27-10-3, nine KO’s and loses his first bout in the state of Maryland. (26-1-3, eight KO’s in the state).
The co-feature saw Glenarden, MD lightweight Drayvontay Speed Rawls register a third-round TKO over Elkridge, MD’s “The Red Comet” Dante Cox. The hand speed of Speed Rawls proved to be the difference in the contest as he landed a blistering right-left combination to Cox’s head and body that dropped him. Cox beat referee Kenny Chevalier’s count but Chevalier ruled that Cox was not fit to continue. The bout ended at 1:28 of the third.
Speed Rawls is now 11-1-1, eight KO’s while Cox, an employee at one of the restaurants in Live! Casino, loses for the first time and is now 3-1, two KO’s.
The bout between undefeated Bowie, MD super lightweight Greg “Sharpshooter” Outlaw and Tyrone “Butterfly” Crawley, Jr. of Philadelphia, PA ended in a no contest after approximately two minutes of the first round. The two boxers got into a tangle and both fell down with Outlaw falling on top of Crawley. Crawley would hurt his left leg. After ringside doctors examined Crawley’s leg, they ruled that the bout would not continue. Outlaw’s record remains at 7-0, two KO’s while Crawley stays at 7-1-1.
Baltimore super middleweight AJ “We Are” Williams won by third-round TKO over DC’s Dameron “Bruiser” Kirby. Competing for the first time since April of 2013, Williams suffered a knockdown in the first round as Kirby hit Williams with a right hand. Williams would come back and dropped Kirby twice in the second round before stopping Kirby at 2:01 of the third. Williams evens his record at 1-1, one KO while Kirby drops to 0-3.
Suitland, MD featherweight Malik “Lil’ Leak” Loften captured a four-round split decision over the debuting Ebrima Jawara of Germantown, MD. Jawara started out quickly with solid shots in the first two rounds. Loften would give his share of punishment but had to deal with a cut around his right eye in the third round. Both men did a good job of landing their shots during the rest of the contest. Judges John Gradowski and Don Risher saw the bout for Loften by 40-36 and 39-37 scores, respectively. Judge Steve Rados scored the bout 39-37 for Jawara. Loften is now 2-1, one KO.
Debuting Baltimore lightweight Brandon Chambers and Christopher “Bad Boy” Haney of Glendale Heights, IL battled to a four-round draw. Chambers, who works as a Baltimore City Police Officer, landed early shots in the first half of the bout but started to tire in the second half. Haney started to take over with good punches as the bout drew to a close. All three judges (Gradowski, Rados and Risher) saw the bout 38-38. For Haney, the bout was his second straight draw and he is now 0-3-2.
Newport News, VA heavyweight Jerry “Slug” Forrest won an eight-round unanimous decision over Grover Young of Memphis, TN. This third meeting between the two men was less contentious than the previous two bouts, both won by Forrest in 2017. The only hiccup in this contest was in the second round when both men would lose a point for hitting on the break. Forrest would also knock down Young with a left hand in the third round. Forrest would win the bout as Judge Gradowski saw the bout 76-73, Judge Rados scored it 78-71 and Judge Risher witnessed a 77-72 score. Forrest is now 24-2, 19 KO’s while Young falls to 13-26-3, nine KO’s.
In the opening bout on the card, Brooklyn, NY super welterweight prospect Radzhab “The Python” Butaev knocked out veteran Lanardo “Pain Server” Tyner of Detroit, MI at 1:48 of the third round. Tyner was trying to land a flurry of punches but got caught by a Butaev right hand followed by a left hook that dropped him. Butaev would swarm Tyner the rest of the way forcing referee Chevalier to stop the contest. Butaev, a native of Salsk, Russia, remains undefeated at 11-0, nine KO’s while Tyner falls to 35-15-2, 22 KO’s.
Jeter Promotions is headed by the husband and wife team of former world-ranked boxer Tony “Mo Better” Jeter and his wife, Christen. Brian Dillon handled the matchmaking duties. Henry “Discombobulating” Jones served as ring announcer.