Taylor Brothers Win in Cockeysville!

For the first time, The Taylor Brothers -- Emmanuel and Maxell -- headlined a pro boxing card. Both brothers were victorious on the Jonathan Odgen Foundation card at Martin's Valley Mansion in Cockeysville, MD.

Emmanuel "Transformer" Taylor was in the main event and won a six-round unanimous decision over Laureano Larracuente of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. This happened despite Taylor aggravating an injury to his right hand that reportedly happened during training. Emmanuel Taylor is now 10-0, eight KO's. Larracuente is now 7-4-1, two KO's.

Maxell "The General" Taylor continued his successful comeback with a second-round stoppage of Ariel "Iron" Espinal of Brooklyn, NY. Taylor stopped Espinal at 2:02 of the second to win his second straight bout after a four-year layoff. Maxell Taylor is now 15-2-1, six KO's while Espinal falls to 8-17-3, four KO's.

In other bouts featuring locals, Alantez "Tez" Fox of Forestville, MD made his Beltway-area debut a successful one with his first pro knockout -- a first-round TKO of Dustin Parrish of Tallahassee, FL. Fox stopped his opponent at 1:53 of the first and is now 2-0, one KO. Parrish falls to 0-2.

Baltimore's Dale Robeson-El also scored a second-round TKO over Franklin Armstrong of Winston-Salem, NC. Robeson-El remains undefeated at 5-0, three KO's while Armstrong is 4-16-3, three KO's.

Also on the card, super bantamweight Leo Santa Cruz of Lincoln Heights, CA scored a first-round knockout over James Owens of Milwaukee, WI. Santa Cruz is 14-0-1, six KO's while Owens is 4-2, two KO's. In a women's bout, Carla Torres of Cleveland, OH won a four-round unanimous decision in her pro debut over Jennifer Wood of Lynchburg, VA. Wood is 1-1, one KO.

TKO Promotions handled the boxing portion of the evening. The matchmaker was "The Boxing Diva" Renee Aiken.


On behalf of my family, thank you all for the well-wishes and prayers. They are most appreciated. My daughter, Courtney, is doing better and we hope she will be home early next week. We caught the pneumonia early so it is still running its course but she is in great spirits. For those who know my family, this is my youngest daughter who has not been at many bouts, not my oldest, whom many of you have met.