Photo by Marilyn Paulino/RBRBoxing
On Saturday, November 1, 2014, DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, DC hosted a championship night of boxing featuring up-and-coming Welterweight prospect, Dusty Hernandez-Harrison (24-0, 13 KOs).
Hernandez-Harrison took on veteran Michael Clark (44-12-1, 18 KOs) in a 10-round Welterweight bout in front of a star studded crowd that included DC Mayor Vincent Gray, Ward 4 Council Member Muriel Bowser, R&B singer Ginuwine and Heavyweight contender Bryant Jennings–to name a few.
The fight, dubbed the “Hometown Takeover,” was initially scheduled for September 27 with Hernandez-Harrison set to face Albuquerque, NM native, Hector Muñoz.
The event was postponed due to an injury suffered by Dusty, and Muñoz was not available for the rescheduled date.
So in stepped Clark, who at 41 years of age has certainly seen better days, but is battle tested against the likes of Sadam Ali, Edgar Santana and Jamie Kavanagh.
The Ohio native known as “Cold Blooded” allowed Dusty to dictate the pace early, though nothing serious landed for the first half of Round 1. But, in the blink of an eye, Hernandez-Harrison dropped an overhand bomb that sent Clark crashing to the canvas and left him frozen for a few seconds.
Clark did his best to beat the count, but he was obviously not all there as he nearly toppled the referee over as he tried to stand.
Photo by Marilyn Paulino/RBRBoxing
A few things stood out from last nights performance. One was that Hernandez-Harrison showed impressive one-punch knockout power which hasn’t really been a part of his repertoire as of late. That’s a good thing.
The second is that while Hernandez-Harrison can dispense of these types of opponents 15 times in a calendar year, he is due for a step up in competition. He’s certainly got a lot of talent coupled with immense marketability, but another year of fights against cupcakes won’t help him develop his ring talent.
Hernandez-Harrison and Muñoz exchanged a few words on our Instagram page recently and it looks like they may actually get in the ring in December. That is a good fight that will help Dusty get some rounds against a serviceable veteran.
Going into 2015, the mindset should be to test Hernandez-Harrison against a legitimate contender and see exactly where he stacks against the rest of the field.
