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Heir To The Throne
By Chris Coreschi
Photos: "Sugar" Ray Bailey
On January 9 a new "Playa" took to the ring, as Jay Z's Roc
Nation Sports put on its first boxing
promotion/extravaganza. Heavy on star power with music and
sports royalty in the house sitting alongside heavy hitters
from Hollywood and the boxing world, the evening appeared to
be a hit with the sold out crowd. From a boxing standpoint I
would have liked a little more substance as the card lacked
the star power of the crowd; Dusty Hernandez-Harrison is a
young up and comer but certainly not a headliner even in the
small room at MSG.
I think Jay Z has the right intentions here as evidenced by
the hiring of David Itskowitch and Michael Yormark. He has
tried to land some of brighter young stars in the game but
had fallen short until announcing the signing of Andre S.O.G.
Ward, a consensus top three Pound4Pound fighter. RNS had the
winning purse bid for the Peter Quillen- Matt Korobov fight
until Quillen vacated his belt rather than earn a career
best $1.4 million.
On to the fights:
The co-feature was a Middleweight scrap for the vacant WBC
Silver and WBA International championships between Taureano
Johnson and Alex El Principe Theran. Most reporters at
ringside expected Theran to be on his bicycle for this
fight, but an actual bicycle probably wouldn'??t have
changed the outcome here. Johnson, who may be best known for
his terrific fight with Curtis Stevens, came out swinging
and didn'??t give Theran a moment to breathe swarming him
from the opening bell. Theran was simply overwhelmed by the
stronger, more physical Johnson being knocked down in the
fourth and fifth round. Theran was forced to retire :01 of
the sixth due to an injury to his leg.
The main event was a welterweight contest between Dusty
Hernandez-Harrison of Washington, DC and Tommy The Razor
Rainone of Plainview, NY. Hernandez-Harrison was taking a
decent step up in competition and showed that he needs more
work, at just twenty years old he has nothing but time. He
did some really nice work at times but also smothered
himself frequently. In Rainone he had a quality opponent who
has never been down or stopped, a record he maintained in
this fight. Hernandez-Harrison also picked up valuable
experience against a wily southpaw which should serve him
well in the future.
Hernandez-Harrison did everything he needed to do in picking
up the unanimous decision; hopefully he continues his steady
progression as he has an incredibly bright future in the
sport.
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