It may not happen all that often anymore, but Washington has seen its share of big-time boxing. Saturday night features the return of the sport to the Washington Convention Center, where local favorite Lamont Peterson fights super lightweight champion Amir Khan on HBO, the first time the network has broadcast a fight in the District in 18 years.
The card also features another local boxer on the rise, Maryland heavyweight Seth Mitchell, who will fight Timur Ibragimov. A victory could put Mitchell in title contention.
Both are legitimate bouts, and it could prove to be an epic night for D.C. boxing, which has seen plenty of great moments and good times over the years.
Joe Louis once defended his heavyweight title against Buddy Baer at Griffith Stadium in 1941, a brawl that ended in Baer’s disqualification.
Muhammad Ali defended his heavyweight championship against Jimmy Young at the Capital Centre in 1976. Ali seemed to lose that fight, though he was awarded the decision.
During the Sugar Ray Leonard era, Palmer Park’s favorite son was like another sports franchise here.
Heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe came to Washington in the 1990s, and there were four local world champions during the decade: middleweight title holders William Joppy and Keith Holmes, junior welterweight champion Sharmba Mitchell and flyweight and super flyweight champion Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson, the latter of whom was just elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Of course, Washington has seen its share of forgettable and regrettable boxing moments as well.
The Mike Tyson-Kevin McBride circus that came to town in 2005 gave the illusion of a big fight, but that turned out to be a fraud.
Speaking of which, six years earlier, the D.C. Council declared it “Don King Day” in Washington at a time King was bringing fights to town in his effort to make friends, influence people and avoid another Justice Department indictment.
The last time HBO came to Washington was in 1993. Bowe’s title defense against Jesse Ferguson drew about 12,000 fans to an empty RFK Stadium for two rounds of a mismatch. That bout came two years after Bowe’s fight with Elijah Tillery on national TV ended when Bowe’s manager, Rock Newman, grabbed Tillery and pulled him over the top ropes, causing chaos in and out of the ring.
The worst may have been the Michael Spinks-Eddie Mustafa Muhammad light heavyweight title rematch in July 1983. Muhammad came in two pounds over the 175-pound weight limit and refused to lose weight, claiming the scale was rigged. The fight went from a title bout to not happening in 48 hours.
Saturday night should fall under the category of memorable. Khan is considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world. Peterson, one of two brothers who had been homeless as children only to emerge as elite boxers, is a triumph in a sport that doesn’t have much to celebrate these days.
Even the District can’t mess this night of boxing up.
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
