On Friday, May 13, 2016, undefeated Roc Nation Sports Welterweight prospect, Dusty Hernandez-Harrison (29-0, 16 KOs) returns home to Washington, DC to face off against Bakersfield, California’s, Mike Dallas Jr. (21-3-1, 10 KOs).
The fight will headline a Throne Boxing event that will be televised live on BET beginning at 10:00 pm, EST and will also be streamed live on global music and entertainment platform, TIDAL.com.
Opening the telecast will be an eight-round featherweight showdown between Orlando “Orlandito” Del Valle (20-2, 15 KOs) and Thomas “KO” Snow (18-2, 5 KOs).
The second televised fight will see the professional debut of highly touted Philadelphia heavyweight prospect Darmani “Rock Solid” Rock against the beltway’s own Carlos “DC Diamond Cutter” Black (1-3).
The non-televised undercard will feature Caguas, Puerto Rico’s Abner “Pin” Cotto (19-3, 9 KOs) against veteran Juan Jose “Pinocho” Beltran (29-25-3, 18 KOs) of Los Mochis, Mexico in an eight-round junior welterweight matchup.
Brooklyn’s undefeated Junior “The Young God” Younan (8-0, 6 KOs) will be facing Rodrigo Almeida in a light heavyweight fight; former NFL linebacker Mike Balogun (5-0, KOs) of Upper Marlborough, Maryland and Devon Mosley (0-4-1) of Capitol Heights, Maryland will also be squaring off in a four-round heavyweight bout.
Also in action will be Greenbelt, Maryland’s Sam “Vanilla Gorilla” Crossed (2-0, 1 KO) against Damion Reed (2-13, 1 KO) of Danville, Virginia in a four-round cruiserweight fight, while 2008 Olympic silver medalist Zhang “Big Bang” Zhilei (8-0, 6 KOs) of Zhengzhou, China will also see action in a six-round heavyweight bout against an opponent to be determined.
Stay with Round By Round Boxing for up-to-the-minute results of all of the bouts.
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RESULTS:
Dusty Hernandez Harrison vs. Mike Dallas Jr.
Dusty Hernandez-Harrison and Mike Dallas Jr. trade knockdowns in an entertaining fighter and are forced to settle on a 10-round split draw.
Luis Orlando Del Valle vs. Thomas Snow
After a slow start to the fight, the second round brought instant action as Del Valle dropped Snow in the second with a straight right. Snow was dropped again in 3rd by a left hook in the midst of an exchange. Maybe because Snow, a southpaw, kept circling into Del Valle’s line of fire throughout the fight.
Down the stretch the fight became a rough and tumble scrap, as Del Valle was looking to land something meaningful, loading up on his right hand, while refusing to throw a jab or even the left (even though he hurt Snow with it earlier). Snow on the other hand was on the skates until they would clinch. Snow adopted a mauling strategy, forcing Del Valle into the ropes, smothering his offense for most of the later rounds. While he landed some clean counters, it was not enough to outweigh the two knockdowns he suffered early in the fight. Del Valle won the unanimous decision with all three judges scoring the 76-74.
After the fight, Snow said he knocked his left shoulder out in the third, but Del Valle had been his toughest opponent to date.
Del Valle shared his thoughts, stating, “I had the edge because my boxing is superior. Snow wasn’t fighting clean because he was hurt. It was a really dirty fight, and hard to get through.”
Abner Cotto vs. Sam Amoako
In this Junior welterweight bout, a game Amoako made for a competitive fight, but by the fourth Cotto took control. Amoako was moving backwards as if to set up counters, but rarely did he deliver on the threat. Once Cotto realized this, he stepped up his aggression. Outside of what seemed like a second wind from Amoako in the 5th, Cotto clearly won the majority, if not all, of the rounds. I still haven’t figured out why Abner Cotto is fighting six round, un-televised, fights. Judges scored the fight, all in favor of Cotto, with a lone judge scoring it 58-56, while the other two had it 60-54. Cotto is your winner by unanimous decision, raising his record to 20-3 (9 KOs).
Cotto’s thoughts after the fight: “I expected to go the distance. This was a last minute opponent, who hasn’t been knocked in his last six fights. I’m happy with the outcome, and I look to Roc Nation to provide higher caliber opponent for the next bout.”
Junior Younan vs. Rodrigo Almeida
Brooklyn’s own Junior Younan controlled the wild and unorthodox Rodrigo Almeida with his jab, while Almeida was content swinging for the fences. During a weird first round, Younan landed three consecutive hard right hooks; two to the body and one to the head of Almeida. Almeida didn’t seem interested in challenging Younan, as he would clinch immediately following his own jab. Unfortunately, Almeida and his corner called the fight in between rounds, due to an arm injury suffered during the round.
Younan’s thoughts on the fight:
“I felt like the guy quite knew what was coming – a lot of guys backed out.
His thoughts on the future:
“I’m looking to go six rounds. I’m ready for whatever Roc Nation tells me next.”
Sam Crossed vs. Damion Reed
This four rounder between Cruiserweights Crossed and Reed got off to a slow start. Crossed took the initiative from the start, backing Reed up. Reed maintained a stoic demeanor for the early rounds, but by the third, both fighters got more involved, exchanging big shots. As Crossed pressed Reed in the fourth, they both landed some big punches, making it a difficult round to score. Crossed was able to scrape out a majority decision as the judges scored the fight 40-36, 38-38, and 39-37. Crossed remains undefeated and raises his record to 3-0 (1 KO).
Zhilei Zhang vs. John Orr
In a surprisingly competitive, but short heavyweight scrap, Zhang and Orr had some solid exchanges. Orr hit the deck once, from an unintentional rabbit punch, but he felt that he wanted to continue. Moments later, it was the perfect straight right hand, set up by a jab from Zhang, that hit Orr right on the button. Orr collapsed to the canvas, completely out of it as the ref called the fight at 2:27 in the first. Zhang adds another knockout to his record which now stands at 9-0 (6 KOs).
Zhang’s comments after the fight: “I felt good. I felt strong – I wanna keep training hard for the title.”
Darmani Rock vs. Carlos Black
In what had to be the most sensational knockout of the night, Darmani Rock absolutely crushed Carlos Black at 1:54 seconds in the first round. With a series of punches that had Black on unsteady footing, a final combination right hand and left hook finished the job, as Black crashed to the canvas with the glare of a man that had seen his life flash before his eyes. Darmani Rock successfully wins his pro-debut, making his record 1-0 (1 KOs).
Darmani thoughts on the fight: “I feel great. Hard work pays off and this is just the beginning.”
Carlos Black said, “I really trained hard for this fight. I thought I was prepared, but this was unexpected.”
Mike Balogun vs. Devon Mosley
In a Heavyweight four-rounder where both fighters started aggressively, Mike Balogun blasted Devon Mosley with a vicious body attack that sent him to the mat twice in the first round. After Balogun knocked Mosley down a second time, the referee called the fight at 1:08 in the first round. Balogun raises his record to 6-0 (5 KO’s).
Balogun’s thoughts on the fight: I feel good, it was a long camp, but we executed the body very effectively. Photos by Tom Hogan/Roc Nation Sports