There will be a pro boxing card coming to a new location in Washington, D.C.
A TAC Promotions/Putney Promotions card will take place Saturday, Nov. 18 at the Merrick Recreation Center at 4275 4th Street in Southeast. The card begins at 7 p.m.
Headlining the card will be the return of D.C. welterweight Jonathan “Bad Badger” Baxter who will be in a six-round contest against veteran Joseph “Trouble” Figueroa of New York City’s Bronx borough. Baxter (8-1, seven KOs) lost his pro debut in November 2016 but has won eight straight bouts since. Figueroa (11-62-5, three KOs), the most experienced foe Baxter will have faced thus far, has lost eight in a row but went the distance in every bout.
Baxter’s cousin, Quinton Taylor, a cruiserweight from D.C., is scheduled to be on the card in a four-round bout against an opponent to be determined. Taylor (1-0, one KO) won his pro debut on Aug. 19 in Greensboro, N.C., scoring a first-round TKO over Keshai Daquan Lindsey.
Bladensburg, Md., featherweight Tiara “The Dark Menace” Brown (3-0, two KOs) will be on the card in a four-round rematch against Natalie King of Wilson, N.C. (0-7). The two met on March 25 at the University of the District of Columbia, with Brown winning by four-round unanimous decision.
Glenarden, Md., super lightweight Dravontay Speed Rawls will take on Robert “Hitman” Hill of Gulfport, Miss., in a six-round bout. Speed Rawls (8-1-1, six KOs) will look to bounce back from his first pro loss, a six-round split decision to Dion Richardson on July 13 in Glen Burnie, Md. Hill (7-34-1, one KO) last fought on Aug. 12, losing a four-round unanimous decision to local boxer Shyngyskhan Tazhibay at the Howard Theatre.
D.C. welterweight Cornell Hines will take on veteran Clifford “The Magician” McPherson in a four-round bout. Hines (1-0, one KO) made his pro debut on April 29 in Springfield, Va., and scored a first-round TKO over Zachary Johnson. McPherson (2-33-1, one KO) has lost 31 bouts in a row, including a second-round TKO to Lavonte Earley on Feb. 11 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Also on the card, Yonkers, N.Y., middleweight Bryant Pappas will fight for the first time this year against Jason “Micro Tyson” McClure of Paris, Ark., who has not fought since October 2011. Pappas (16-2-1, 16 KOs) last fought in December, notching a first-round TKO over Andrew Hartley. McClure (1-9) and Pappas met one time before in September 2010, with Pappas scoring a fourth-round TKO.
Meanwhile, boxing will return to the MGM National Harbor and Casino in Oxon Hill, Md., on Thursday, Nov. 30 with a nationally televised (ESPN2) Golden Boy Promotions card that will feature one of the rising Beltway-area boxers.
Undefeated Upper Marlboro, Md., super featherweight Lamont Roach Jr. will defend his WBC youth silver super featherweight championship against Rey “Flash” Perez of Santa Rosa City, Laguna, Philippines in a 10-round feature bout. Roach (15-0, six KOs) comes off a first-round TKO over Luis Hinojosa on Oct. 21 in Verona, N.Y. Perez (21-8, six KOs) broke a two-bout losing streak with a second-round TKO over Noel Adelmita on June 4 in Dipolog City, Philippines.
Also on the card will be the Rincon brothers of Carrollton, Texas, who train in the Beltway area. Alex Rincon, a super welterweight (3-0, three KOs), and George Rincon, a welterweight (2-0), are both looking for opponents for a four-round bout.
The other featured bout pits Jose “Wonder Boy” Lopez of Carolina, Puerto Rico, against Miguel Angel “Silky Smooth” Gonzalez of Cleveland in a 10-round super featherweight bout for the WBO international super featherweight championship. Lopez, the titleholder (19-1-1, 14 KOs), is coming off a 10-round unanimous decision over Orlando Cruz on June 17 in Caguas, Puerto Rico. Gonzalez (24-4, 16 KOs) has not fought since November 2015 when he won an eight-round majority decision over Fedor Papazov in Las Vegas.
This will be the fourth boxing card held at the MGM since its opening in December.