Fox, Balogun Lead Night of KOs in Arlington, VA

By Gary “Digital” Williams at ringside
Photos: Kent Green

It was a nine-bout, nine-knockout night during the King’s Promotions card Friday night at the Crystal City Hilton in Arlington, VA.

In the main event, Forestville, MD super lightweight and King’s Promotions signee Mykal “The Professor” Fox put on a sterling display en route to a dominant third-round knockout over Somner “Magic Man” Martin of Martinsville, VA. The 6’4″ Fox used his height to land crisp right jabs and solid left hooks to keep the shorter Martin at bay. Martin could not find any offense. Fox was able to eventually batter Martin all around the ring, knocking him down before the bout was stopped at 1:53 of the third. Fox is now 11-0, three KO’s while Martin is 5-3, three KO’s.

The co-feature saw Mike “Silverback” Balogun win a battle of young Maryland heavyweights with a second-round TKO over Luther “Lights Out” Smith. Balogun, who competes out of Upper Marlboro, put immense pressure on Smith, a resident of Bowie. Balogun was able to knock Smith down twice in the second round before the bout was halted at 1:32. Balogun remains undefeated at 7-0, six KO’s. Smith suffers his first loss and he is now 5-1, four KO’s.

Washington, DC super bantamweight Jordan “Shortdog” White was successful in his first hometown-area bout as he scored a TKO over Sergio Aguilar of Homestead, FL. The 18-year-old Al Haymon prospect wasted no time in landing shots on the overmatched Aguilar. White knocked Aguilar down three times. Aguilar stayed in his corner at the end of the round giving White the victory. White raises his record to 3-0, three KO’s while Aguilar remains winless at 0-5.

Greenbelt, MD cruiserweight “The Vanilla Gorilla” Sam Crossed won his bout by first-round TKO over Mike Estus of Ames, IA. Crossed knocked Estus down with brutal right hands before the bout was halted at 2:03. Crossed is 4-0, two KO’s while Estus is 0-4.

Frederick, MD super middleweight Devar “Jengawar” Ferhadi, a recent King’s Promotions signee, dropped Christopher “The Punisher” Petty of Huntsville, AL four times before the bout was stopped at 2:35 of the third round. Ferhadi scored knockdowns in all three rounds with an array of punches — a straight right hand in the first, a left-to-the-body-right-to-the-head in the second and straight left hands twice in the third to score the victory. Ferhadi, who recently finished his third year of medical school in his native Kurdistan, remains undefeated at 7-0, six KO’s. Petty is 0-3.

Debuting DC middleweight Phillip “Handsome” Hooker scored a first-round TKO over David “Rock Steady” Rohn of Villa Park, IL. Hooker landed crisp body shots to drop Rohn. Rohn beat the 10-count but was in no condition to continue and the bout was stopped at 2:28. Rohn is now 0-7-1.

Another King’s Promotions boxer — super bantamweight Marcus “Dreamcrusher” Bates of DC — needed just 43 seconds to knock out Daniel “The Jaguar” Hernandez of Bear, DE. Bates landed a straight right hand that dropped Hernandez to a sitting position on the canvas. Hernandez could not beat the count. Bates, returning to action for the first time in more than two years, remains undefeated at 4-0-1, four KO’s. Hernandez, who hadn’t fought in close to three years, is now 0-2-1.

Edgewood, MD middleweight Patrick Rivera made his pro debut a successful one with a fourth-round stoppage of Dustin Caplinger of Akron, OH. Rivera landed some quality body shots that forced Caplinger to hold on to his foe throughout the contest. Caplinger lost a point in the third round for holding then was dropped by right to the body moments later. A barrage of body shots four seconds into the fourth round stopped the contest. Caplinger’s record falls to 2-9, one KO.

In the curtain-raising bout, Owings Mills, MD heavyweight Colby “Mad Dog” Madison stopped debuting Bryson Haubrick of Lewistown, PA at 2:05 of the first round. Despite being outweighed by almost 100 pounds, Madison easily landed hard right hands to drop Haubrick to the canvas twice. Madison is now 3-0, two KO’s.

King’s Promotions is led by Marshall Kauffman. Kauffman and Ross Molovinsky handled the matchmaking duties. The ring announcer was Henry “Discombobulating” Jones.