When Washington, D.C.-born Lamont Roach Jr. defends his 130-pound belt Friday against unbeaten Irishman Feargal McCrory, it will be his first pro fight in his hometown in seven years. It's a statistic that underscores boxing's unique position in the DMV, the local name for the area that includes the District of Columbia and its Maryland and Virginia suburbs.
The region has produced many top boxers over the years, including Hall of Famers Ray Leonard, Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson and Riddick Bowe, as well as former middleweight contenders Keith Holmes and William Joppy and brothers Gary Russell. But despite being a boxing-crazed city, there have been fewer big fights than you'd expect in and around the nation's capital. Here are some of the most notable bouts from the past few years.
May 23, 1941
Joe Louis DQ7 Buddy Bear
Griffith Stadium, Washington DC
The first ever world heavyweight championship bout in Washington, DC, was nearly canceled because of rain, and referee Arthur Donovan went to a bar to get a drink, but when the rain stopped and the bout went on as scheduled, the referee hurriedly sobered up.
The bout itself got off to a dramatic start with Baer slamming Lewis into the ropes in the first round, but the champion recovered and knocked Baer down hard twice at the end of the sixth round, then one more time after the gong sounded to end the round. Baer's trainers entered the ring and called for Lewis to be disqualified, but when they refused to leave the ring, Donovan disqualified Baer.
April 30, 1976
Muhammad Ali W15 Jimmy Young
Capital Centre, Landover, MD
Overweight and ill-prepared, Ali struggled against the boxing technique and movement of Young, who out-threw Ali's jab, power punches, and hit rate. Ali landed the fewest punches, 113, in the 15-round bout. However, the referee punished Young for his habit of ducking his head outside the ropes after Ali pinned him, at one point resulting in a ruled knockdown. Ali won by unanimous decision to the dissatisfaction of the crowd, but the bout is widely seen as the beginning of Ali's long decline.
March 31, 1980
Sugar Ray Leonard KO4 Dave “Boy” Green
Capital Centre, Landover, MD
The local man was at his most ferocious in this WBC welterweight title defense, sandwiched between his win over Wilfredo Benitez and his first bout with Roberto Duran. After attacking the underdog Green in the first three rounds, Leonard stepped up his game in the fourth, knocking out the Englishman with a devastating left hook.
May 22, 1993
Riddick Bowe KO2 Jesse Ferguson/Roy Jones Jr. W12 Bernard Hopkins
RFK Stadium, Washington DC
Bowe, a New York City native and DMV resident, dominated Ferguson in two rounds in the main event, but more significant was the co-main event in which Jones beat Hopkins to win the IBF middleweight title (his first belt) in a largely forgettable bout that marked the beginning of a rivalry that would last two decades.
April 29, 1995
Bernard Hopkins KO7 Segundo Mercado/ Vincent Pettway KO6 Simon Brown
USAir Arena, Landover, Maryland
Hopkins won the middleweight title at his third try, the second against Mercado. The first bout with the Ecuadorian, held in the highlands of Quito, ended in a controversial draw, but in the rematch Hopkins left no doubt as he dominated Mercado, stopping him in the seventh round to set up a long-term title run. The highlight of the night, however, was Pettway's knockout of Brown in the junior middleweight main event, leaving Brown on his back, unconscious but still throwing punches.
February 22, 1998
Mark Johnson KO1 Arthur Johnson
DC Armory, Washington DC
DC's Mark Johnson accepted a pay cut to defend his IBF flyweight title in his hometown instead of Las Vegas or Atlantic City, but the future Hall of Famer proved his worth, forcing No. 1 contender Arthur Johnson against the ropes and taking him down with a right-left combination in just 71 seconds.
June 11, 2005
Kevin McBride KO6 Mike Tyson
MCI Center, Washington DC
The Tyson era finally came to an ignominious end with an unexpected beating from the big Irishman McBride. A year removed from his shocking defeat to Danny Williams, Tyson won five of the six completed rounds as scored by the two judges – or at least he would have done so had he not been deducted two points in the sixth round for a deliberate headbutt. At this point, Tyson had grown frustrated with McBride's physical strength and unyielding attitude, and to the amazement and anger of the crowd, he remained in his chair after the sixth round.
December 10, 2011
Lamont Peterson W12 Amir Khan
Convention Center, Washington DC
The raucous crowd cheered loudly as DC's Peterson took both 140-pound belts from Khan. Khan started strong, dropping Peterson in the first round, before Peterson fought back. Still, it looked like Khan had done more than enough to defend his belt, but two inexplicable point deductions by referee Joseph Cooper gave Peterson the win by one point on both cards.
April 8, 2017
Vasiliy Lomachenko TKO9 Jason Sosa/Oleksandr Usyk W12 Michael Hunter
MGM National Harbor, Oxon Hill, Maryland
Neither bout will rank among either fighter's best-three wins, but both were impressive — Sosa was the second of Lomachenko's opponents to withdraw from four straight bouts, while Usyk handily defeated Hunter by knocking him out in the 12th round — but the card was notable not only for featuring two future Hall of Famers (and compatriot Oleksandr Gvozdyk), but also for being the first boxing event at the new MGM National Harbor.
March 24, 2019
Sergey Lipinets TKO10 Lamont Peterson
MGM National Harbor, Oxon Hill, Maryland
If Peterson's win over Khan was the highlight of his career, this one may have been the low point. He finished second in a brutal, hard-fought contest. Losses to Lucas Matthysse, Danny Garcia and Errol Spence Jr. eliminated Peterson from title contention. After his final defeat to Lipinets, he promptly announced his retirement, but planned to return in 2023, only to lose his comeback bout and retire again.
May 11, 2019
Julian Williams W12 Jarrett Hurd
EagleBank Arena, Fairfax, Virginia
The Maryland native was two fights removed from unifying three junior middleweight belts in an epic battle with Erislandy Lara, but his title defense upon his return didn't go to plan, as he was knocked down in the second round in an upset loss. Neither fighter has fought convincingly since.
January 7, 2023
Gervonta Tank Davis TKO9 Hector Garcia
Capital One Arena, Washington DC
Garcia played well against Davis in Baltimore, but it was “Tank” who was in control when an altercation between rappers Meek Mill and Washington's Gary Russell Jr. sparked a crowd brawl and referee Albert Brown paused the bout in the eighth round (with Davis' encouragement) and a powerful left hand from Davis at the end of that round hurt Garcia so badly that the Dominican remained in his chair until the beginning of the ninth round.
It wasn't Davis' biggest win against a Garcia opponent in 2023, but as a sign of Tank's drawing power, the $5 million-plus attendance even surpassed the attendance Tyson drew to the venue following his loss to McBride.
Kieran Mulvaney has written, broadcast and podcasted about boxing for HBO, Showtime, ESPN and Reuters. He also writes regularly for National Geographic and has written several books about the Arctic and Antarctic. He is happiest hanging out with polar bears in the wild. His website is www.kieranmulvaney.com.
