By Gary “Digital” Williams at ringside

Tyriesha “Lady Tiga” Douglas won the vacant Universal Boxing Federation Female Super Flyweight championship with a fourth-round TKO over previously undefeated Ebony “The Storm” Rivera of Fayetteville, NC at the Coppermine Du Burns Arena in Baltimore, MD. The bout was the main event of the Shabazz Brotherz card.

Douglas, a native of Washington, DC who trains in Baltimore, used extremely quick hands to set up her power shots. At first, Rivera seemed to withstand the early onslaught but by the second round, the speed of Douglas proved to be too much as Douglas would land three or four shots in an exchange while Rivera could only land one shot.

Douglas picked up the pace in the third round as she landed blistering shots to Rivera’s face and body that seemed to stagger Rivera throughout the two-minute stanza. Rivera gamely tried to fight back and survived the round. Finally in the fourth round, Rivera landed a right hand but Douglas landed a quick combination that knocked Rivera backwards. Referee Brent Bovell immediately stopped the contest, giving Douglas the win and the title at 35 seconds of the round. Douglas wins her third UBF title in her third weight class (flyweight, super flyweight and bantamweight) and her record rises to 12-1, five KO’s Rivera loses for the first time and her record is 7-1, three KO’s.

In the co-feature, Baltimore light heavyweight Travis “Seveer” Reeves defeated Josue “Chiquilin” Obando of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico by fourth-round disqualification. Reeves, the reigning USBO Light Heavyweight and Maryland State Cruiserweight titleholder, had some difficulty generating an offense against the taller Obando. However, Obando did not help his cause at all as he lost two points for holding the arms of Reeves. Finally, on the third infraction, referee Kenny Chevalier disqualified Obando at 19 seconds of the fourth round. Reeves has won 12 straight contests and his record is now 15-2-2, seven KO’s. Obando has lost nine in a row and he is now 14-16-1, 11 KO’s.

The rest of the night proved to be a rough one for local boxers. Shane Pearson, a middleweight from Statesville, NC, scored a stunning first-round TKO over previously undefeated Stephon “The Surgeon” Morris of Baltimore. Morris, who fought for the first time since the passing of his father in March, could not get going as Pearson rocked Morris with a huge right hand. Moments later, another right hand from Pearson dropped Morris to the canvas. Referee Dave Braslow immediately stopped the bout and Pearson got the win at 2:10. Morris falls to 4-1, three KO’s while Pearson, who competed for the first time in almost five years, is now 2-1, two KO’s.

Also on the card, middleweight Aidos Yerbossynuly of Almaty, Kazahkstan totally negated the offense of Baltimore’s Devin “Bite” Butcher en route to an easy six-round unanimous decision. Yerbossynuly, making only his second appearance in the United States, showed impressive defensive skills as he was able to cut off Butcher at every turn. Offensively, Yerbossynuly was able to land solid shots to the head and body of Butcher, who had no answer for any of his opponent’s tactics. Butcher can claim a moral victory as he is the first boxer to make Yerbossynuly go the distance. Yerbossynuly won by scores of 60-53 and 59-54 (twice) to remain undefeated at 6-0, five KO’s. Butcher drops to 6-2, three KO’s.

Baltimore super featherweight Mack “Papi” Allison IV battled to a four-round majority draw with Matt Murphy of St. Louis, MO. In going the distance for the first time in his career, Allison got off to a good start as he landed quality shots in the first round. However, Murphy was able to work his way inside and outwork Allison in parts of the contest. Allison was able to win one scorecard as judge John Gradowski scored the bout 39-37. However Brent Bovell and Dave Braslow saw the draw at 38-38. Allison remains undefeated at 7-0-1, seven KO’s. While Murphy is now 2-13-2, two KO’s.

Newport News, VA heavyweight Jerry “Slug” Forrest won a six-round unanimous decision over veteran Grover “The Cobra” Young of Memphis, TN. In a battle of southpaw heavies, Forrest used a blistering right jab throughout the contest to keep Young at bay. Forrest could not follow up with big left hands consistently but his jab was more than enough to give him the win. Forrest won by scores of 59-55 (twice) and 58-56 to raise his record to 16-2, 13 KO’s. Since suffering those back-to-back losses, Forrest has won nine in a row. Young falls to 12-24-3, eight KO’s and is winless in his last 11 bouts.

Brian Dillon did the matchmaking on this card and the ring announcer was Henry “Discombobulating” Jones.