Round By Round Boxing was in attendance on Friday October 29, 2021 in Washington DC at the DC Entertainment and Sports Arena for the kickoff of the Battle of the Beltway Round 1. There were seven scheduled bouts for the action-packed event.
To start off the evening, Malik Titus(2-0, 2 KOs) scored an early first-round knockout over Jacob Hagler (0-2) with a mean straight right to the body.
Next up, Christopher Arnold (3-0, 3 KOs) scored another first-round knockout with a jarring right uppercut to Terrick Maven, who was making his pro debut.
A bout scheduled for eight rounds between Dominque Crowder(10-0, 6 KOs) and Ira Terry (27-17, 16 KOs) ended early with another knockout, this one coming in the second round. Crowder was dominating with his jab in the first round. In the second round, Crowder slipped and as he came up Terry landed a clean shot before the ref could step in. You could tell Crowder saw red in his eyes as he immediately put Terry away with a clean one-two combination.
There was no question who the crowd was behind as Jalil “Major” Hackett (2-0, 2 KOs) entered the ring. This was his debut in his hometown and the crowd let him know. His opponent, Latorie Woodberry (2-11-2), would not last long.
Woodberry came out fast trying to overwhelm Hackett, but the hometown fighter was unfazed. Hackett stayed behind his jab and dug to the body, which left his opponent on the canvas. Woodberry would get back up, only to eat another ripping left hook to the body which sent him right back to the canvas.
Lastly, Woodberry would rise again only to take another punishing body shot to end the fight in the first round. Hackett now has two first-round stoppages.
Another DMV local, Sam Crossed (11-1-1, 7 KOs) entered the ring against Ronald Montes (19-14-1, 17 KOs) of Colombia in a six-round bout. For the first two rounds, Crossed worked off his jab and landed the occasional one-two, while avoiding Montes wild left hooks.
In Round 3, Crossed was more aggressive and Montes made him pay, countering his shots. Round 4 saw Crossed land several big right hands, as he avoided heavy shots coming back his way. The final two rounds were close with each man landing big shots and looking tired. The judges scored it a majority draw, 59-55, 57-57 and 57-57. Round By Round Boxing had it scored 58-56 for Crossed.
DC Native DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley (52-33-1, 28 KOs) fought Lenwood Dozier(10-28-3, 5 KOs) in the co-main event.
You would not be able to tell it was Corleys 86th fight as he outclassed his opponent from start to finish. For six rounds he landed at will, while switching stances, pot-shotting, and landing combinations on his opponent.
Not only was his offense still sharp, he continually made his opponent narrowly miss his shots. Judges scored it 60-54, 60-55 and 60-55. After the fight, Corley took the microphone to challenge Jalil Hackett.
“Young Jalil, your mom is here and I would like for her to let me spank you, the way you should’ve spanked him when he was growing up.”
Hackett then entered the ring and agreed to face off against Corley in Round 2 of the Battle of the Beltway.
The night’s main event for the WBC Continental Americas Featherweight title was fought between Cobia Breedy (15-1, 5 KOs) and Sulaiman Segawa (13-3-1, 4 KOs).
The opening round proved entertaining as both men went at it. Halfway into the second round, Segawa suffered a cut on his eyebrow from an unintentional clash of heads.
That round ended with Breedy landing a solid right at the bell. Unfortunately, the ringside doctor had to call the fight and it was a No Contest–due to the severity of the cut.
