(Robert Easter, Jr. celebrates knocking down Daniel Attah; photo credit: R. McCarson)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — It's a cold Saturday night in the nation's capital, and the atmosphere is cool in the D.C. Armory while the sparse fans await local hero Lamont Peterson in the main event. We'll find out through the course of the evening (it's about 7 p.m. as of this writing) whether the crowd will pick up, or whether the weather and Peterson's knockout loss has dimmed enthusiasm for his latest outing.
Because the first bout was at 4:20 p.m., I decided to show up a little later at a more traditional opening bell of a bit before 6 p.m. This post will regularly update with the bouts leading up to the main Showtime televised card, including some Sho Extreme action with Dominic Wade, Rau'shee Warren, Robert Easter, Jr. and others. It'll go in reverse chronological order.
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Dashon Johnson caought Dominic Wade cold with a left hand in the 1st round, but Wade took over after that en route to a six-round unanimous decision by scores of 57-56, 58-55, 59-55. Sound like one judge thought Wade took care of the rest of the 1st well enough to nullify the knockdown? Anyhow, Wade's composure and work rate won him the fight after the shocking knockdown. In the 2nd, Wade's body work strayed low, and he was still getting tagged in return a bit as he tends to fight with his hands low. He often threw punches without ill intent, but they kept Jones occupied and he didn't throw very much by the 3rd, where he put together one damaging flurry; by the 4th, his best punches were in a clinch after Wade spun him around. Jones was faster and might have hit harder, but his work rate was too low to contend. Wade got a wakeup call in that 1st round; let's see what he does next.
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Rau'shee Warren monotonously controlled German Merez through seven rounds then spiced things up slightly by dropping him with a right hook in the final round. The scores of 80-72, 80-71 and 80-71 sealed the deal, yet meant that one judge didn't score the knockdown for some reason. Basically Meraz couldn't touch Warren except in clinches, and Warren alternated between punishing Meraz to the body and walking him into lead left hands. He still gets wild for someone with defense as good as it is when he tries, does Warren, so I'm still worried about someone who can punch, with some serious speed or with big-fight experience and savvy catching him flush in one of his sloppy lunges. But so far, he hasn't fought anyone who fits that bill.
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Lightweight prospect Robert Easter, Jr. dominated Daniel Attah for a two-knockdown, eight-round unanimous decision: 80-70 across the board. There was a time when Attah was a useful trial horse, but those days are long over. All he had tonight was bursts of footwork and the ability to bob and weave when he got cornered against the ropes, then launch an ineffectual left hand. Easter towered over him, but seemed to prefer being inside whooping up on Attah's body. He dropped Easter in the 3rd with a long right hand, though, then beat the tar out of him in the 4th in an ugly "no more of this for Attah, please" fashion. But Easter couldn't stop him there and took his foot off the gas some. In the 7th, Attah landed a jab that did more damage than any other punch he landed, largely because Easter wasn't looking for it. And in the 8th came another knockdown on a right hand followed by a left, but Attah was able to hold on, literally, to make it to the final bell. Easter was dominant but one suspects a lot of boxers would've been against this version of Attah. He was a moving target, therefore better for Easter's development than a heavy bag in the gym, at least.
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Lightweight Jamel Herring got a baffling split decision win over Antonio Sanchez, baffling because Herring won every round on the two scorecards that were sane. The 58-56 call for Sanchez must've given him too much credit for the stray big right hand he'd land, or else it was a massive tabulation error. (Nope. Just got the scorecard. Judge Wayne Smith thought Sanchez won the last four rounds. Uh.) Herring had no real trouble but also didn't really impress — he's throw a southpaw 1-2 then back away and wave his left hand around to indicate it landed. The former Olympian is now affiliated with Adrien Broner's band camp, but he's also a former Marine, so that deserves to cancel out any hate he might get for affiliating with the nauseating one.
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On the parts of the show I missed or missed substantial portions of: super middleweight D'Mitrius Ballard got a 3rd round stoppage win over Marlon "The Best By" Farr (<—nice nickname!) due to an apparent hand injury; lightweight Reynell Williams stopped Kevin Womack in one; welterweight Semajay Thomas topped Kevin Womack on the scorecards, 39-37 across the board; and welterweight Javonte Clark got a 1st round stoppage win over Lee Kreisher in his pro debut.
