By Gary “Digital” Williams at ringside

Rookie Baltimore, MD middleweight Lorenzo “Truck” Simpson scored a blistering second-round TKO over Dewayne “The Beast” Williams of Philadelphia, PA in the main event contest of the Shabazz Brotherz card at Rosecroft Raceway in Fort Washington, MD. Five of the six contests on the card ended in knockouts.

Simpson was very composed during the contest, probing with his solid right jab. Simpson jabbed his way inside and, by the second round, was able to land his left hooks inside. Two of those Simpson left hooks landed flush on Williams’s face and dropped him twice to the canvas. Referee Dave Braslow stopped the contest after the second knockdown and the bout ended at 2:29 of the second round. Simpson remains undefeated at 5-0, four KO’s while Williams’s record evens at 1-1, one KO.

The co-feature was the only bout to go the distance as Baltimore heavyweight Hasim “Gold Blooded” Rahman, Jr. captured a four-round unanimous decision over a very crafty Curtis “Bad Guy” Head of Southfield, MI. Rahman’s jabs and feints were a big key to his eventual victory and he switched very successfully back and forth from the conventional to the southpaw stance. Head tried to give Rahman different looks but Rahman was able to stick to his gameplan and go on to a relatively easy decision. All three judges (John Gradowski, Don Risher, and Paul Wallace) scored a shutout for Rahman, Jr, 40-36. Rahman is now 8-0, four KO’s while Head is 4-4, three KO’s.

Baltimore cruiserweight Kwame “Rambo” Ritter returned to boxing for the first time since July of 2016 in a demonstrative way, registering a first-round knockout over Clarence “Problem Child” Whitehead of Philadelphia. Ritter put on a strong performance landed very good combinations throughout the first round that ended with two strong left hands that dropped Whitehead to the canvas twice. The second knockdown stopped the contest at 1:34. Ritter remains undefeated at 4-0, three KO’s while Whitehead is still winless at 0-2.

Heavyweight Muhsin “Spartan” Cason of Las Vegas, NV by way of Baltimore, won by first-round TKO over Nathaniel “The Juggernaut” Copeland of Washington, DC when Copeland injured his left arm. In the first minute of the contest, the two men got into a clinch and were trying to fight their way out of it. As referee Brent Bovell started to move in and separate the men, Cason landed a punch on Copeland’s arm. Seconds later, Copeland fell awkwardly to the canvas. Bovell did not rule a knockdown but Copeland could not continue. The bout ended at 50 seconds of the first round. Copeland left the ring on a stretcher and was taken to a nearby hospital for X-rays. Cason, the brother of former world heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman, Sr., is now 5-0, three KO’s while Copeland is 1-1, one KO.

In an all-Beltway super middleweight contest, Columbia, MD’s Ashton “The Goon” Sykes scored a sixth-round knockout over Devin “Bite” Butcher of Baltimore. The two men were very testy towards one another the day before the bout at the weigh-in and the attitudes carried over to the ring. In the first round, a Butcher punch landed on Sykes’s left eye and opened a large gash. However, Sykes’s cut man, Reggie Brown, did outstanding work on the cut and it became a non-factor in the bout. By the second half of the contest, Sykes was able to pick up his offensive output while slowing down Butcher’s output. In the sixth round, Sykes landed two crushing right hands to put Butcher down to the canvas. Referee Braslow stopped the bout immediately at 1:59 of the round. Sykes’s record climbs to 4-3 and he scores his first pro knockout. Butcher’s record drops to 6-4, three KO’s.

In the opening contest, heavyweight Norman Neely of Paterson, NJ defeated Kendrick “Big Heavy” Houston of Kannapolis, NC by first-round knockout. Neely wasted little time in the bout landing quality body and head shots that sent Houston twice to the canvas. Referee Braslow stopped the contest at 1:19 of the first. Neely is now 2-0, two KO’s while Houston falls to 1-5-2, one KO.

The matchmaker for the card was “The Boxing Diva” Renee Aiken. The ring announcer was Henry “Discombobulating” Jones.