Saturday, July 11, 2015

Card Is Complete For July 18 At Sphinx Club!

The Keystone Boxing card that will be held on Saturday, July 18 at the Sphinx Club in Washington, DC is complete.

BATB already told you about the main event -- undefeated Fort Washington, MD super bantamweight "Monster" Marq Johns (8-0-1, five KO's) will battle Karl Garcia of Miami, FL by way of Bayamon, Puerto Rico (4-5-1, one KO) in a six-round battle.

There are now opponents for the Fox Brothers, who will be the first Beltway Brother duo to appear on the same card since Harold and Joshua Parker competed at the Washington Convention Center in August of 2012.

Alantez "SlyAza" Fox (15-0-1, five KO's) will take on Guillermo "Bald" Valdes of Miami, FL in a six-round contest.  Valdes (12-6, three KO's) will face a Beltway Boxer for the third straight time.  Valdes lost by fourth-round TKO to Dusty Hernandez Harrison in August of 2013 in Dover, DE.  Then, Valdes was knocked out in the first round by Tony Jeter in April of 2014 in Springfield, VA. Valdes has not fought since the loss to Jeter.

Younger brother Myke "The Professor" Fox (6-0, two KO's) will battle Juan Carlos Castillo of Caguas, Puerto Rico in another six-round encounter.  Castillo (4-2, three KO's) has won three straight bouts including a second-round stoppage of Aneudy Cordones on December 16 in the Dominican Republic.

Undefeated super lightweight Patrick Harris of Hyattsville, MD will be on the card in his first scheduled six-round bout when he takes on Rafael Vazquez of Bayamon, Puerto Rico.  Harris (5-0, four KO's) fought on the last Keystone card at the Sphinx Club on March 14 and scored a second-round knockout of Carlos Acevedo. Vazquez (1-2) will try to break a two-bout losing streak including a four-round unanimous decision loss to Luis Sedano on May 30 in Hollywood, CA.

District Heights, MD super featherweight Renaldo "Misunderstood" Gaines takes on Stephon McIntyre of Jonesboro, GA in what should be an interesting six-rounder.  Gaines (6-2, one KO) will make his six-round debut coming off his best performance as a pro, winning a four-round unanimous decision over Marquise Pierce on the March 14 Sphinx Club show.

In a weird subplot to this bout, Gaines recently had a brush with the law, according to the promoters, and, with permission of the authorities, will be competing in this bout while under house arrest.

McIntyre (2-8-2) has lost six in a row and is winless in his last 10 bouts. However, McIntyre seems to compete well in the Beltway region.  He was stopped in the third round in a competitive contest against Kevin Rivers, Jr. on January 17 at the Washington Convention Center, however he held both Marq Johns and Marcus Bates to draws in consecutive appearances in Fort Washington, MD in December of 2013 and January of 2014.

Fort Washington cruiserweight "The Golden Goat" Albi Sadikaj returns to action in a four-round bout against Santos Martinez of Adrian, MI.  Sadikaj, a native of Albania (3-0, three KO's), returned to action after an almost two-year absence and scored a second-round TKO of Jose Alexis Rivera Ayala on the March 14 card at the Sphinx Club.

Martinez (2-8-1, two KO's) makes his fourth straight trip to the Beltway and sixth overall.  Martinez lost a four-round unanimous decision to Kwame Ritter on March 20 in Woodlawn, MD.  Martinez has also lost to Beltway Boxers Larry Pryor, Travis Reeves and Mario Flores and fought to a draw with Devon Mosley.

Leesburg, VA lightweight Eric "El Torito" Hernandez returns quickly to action, less than a month after making his pro debut when he takes on Fernando Serrano of Garden City, KS in a four-rounder.  Hernandez (1-0) won his pro debut on June 20 in Woodlawn when he captured a four-round unanimous decision over Mason Wicket.  Serrano (1-4, one KO) is coming off a first-round knockout loss to David Escamilla on February 28 in Denver, CO.

Frederick, MD super middleweight Devar "Almuhaarb" Ferhadi returns to action with a four-round contest against Travis Davidson of Richmond, VA.  Ferhadi (4-0, three KO's) last fought on November 15 at the recently renamed Eagle Bank Arena (formerly the Patriot Center) in Fairfax, VA and stopped Jess Noriega in the third round.  Davidson (2-7, two KO's) lost a four-round unanimous decision to Raymond Terry on June 20 in Greensboro, NC.  Davidson lost to Brandon Quarles and Jeremy Trussell by knockout in previous Beltway appearances.

The card also marks the pro debut of Rockville, MD super welterweight Shynggyskhan Tazhibay who will take on Jasey Montalvo of Aguadilla, Puerto Rico (0-5)  Tazhibay won the 2015 Regional Golden Gloves in April of this year at 152 pounds but could not compete in the National Golden Gloves because the native of Kazakhstan was not a naturalized US citizen.

If you can't make the event in person, The Boxing Along The Beltway Google App for Android will have the blow-by-blow call of the card live beginning at 7:55 PM Eastern Time.

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