Through The Cage

For the past six years, boxing fans have equated the George Mason University (GMU) Patriot Center as the “house that Lange built.” On September 10, 2011, this venue hosted the 13^th Jimmy Lange boxing event, and by the end of the night, that claim was bolstered even more. Promoted by ICE Promotions and presented by Valcourt Building Services, Jimmy Lange faced off against Raul “El Toro” Muñoz for the vacant World Boxing Union (WBU) Junior Middleweight Championship. Less than a year ago, Lange won the North American Boxing Association’s (NABA) vacant super welterweight (154-pound) title here at the Patriot Center. It looks like Lange is planning to bring home all the belts.

This eight-bout fight card also showcased Lange’s Contender teammate, Jonathan Reid, as the co-main event, and it brought back many familiar fighters,  including Todd “White Lightning” Wilson and  Zain “Tiger” Shah who were both looking to keep their undefeated records intact if they could get past Eric “Mighty Mouse” Aiken and Julius “Vicious” Kennedy, respectively. Aiken, the former International Boxing Federation (IBF) World Featherweight Champion, is a DC-area native, and this was his first fight after a 3-year hiatus from competitive boxing.

Main Event – Jimmy Lange vs. Raul “El Toro” Muñoz

Jimmy Lange (37-4-2, 25 KOs), a boxer from the first season of the Contender reality TV show, is one of the DC-area’s most prized fighters. He faced Raul “El Toro” Muñoz (22-15-1‚ 16 KOs) for the vacant WBU Junior Middleweight title. Muñoz, a native of Mexico, currently resides and trains in Topkea, Kansas. Muñoz owns two restaurants in Topeka and trains as a professional boxer part-time.  

Muñoz was aggressive from the beginning. For the first few rounds, he attacked Lange and got him against the ropes several times, delivering ruthless body and head shots.  Lange was doing his best to slip the shots, but he took a lot of punches. Lange is known for being able to take punches, but it was astounding to witness how much he was able to endure. In round four, Lange started to be more aggressive, which got the crowd excited. But Muñoz charged in again, taking away any momentum Lange had built up.

When round five started, the pace was slower. Muñoz was not charging in like he had been, and Lange was using his jab to keep Muñoz away. But Muñoz quickly had Lange on the ropes again. There were a few punches from Lange that Muñoz’s corner thought were below the belt, and they were calling for a point deduction. But the referee saw it differently, and no penalty was given.

Round six is when it all turned around. Lange took control of this round and landed great punches. His hook took down Muñoz the first time, and then Lange went on the attack. He knocked Muñoz down again, but Muñoz got up and continued fighting. Lange got him into the corner, and this time it was Lange who did the destruction.  Muñoz’s knee went down, and that was it. The referee called it, and Lange won in 2:44 by TKO.

Lange is known for his jabs but was working body shots a lot in this fight. He said, “In the beginning, both didn’t work for me. I had to regroup. I don’t think I hurt him at all early on.” When he recapped how the fight turned around, he said, “I thought it would be more gradual and get him in the 7^th or 8^th round. But I caught him with a left hook and got him.”

Jackie Kallen, the successful boxing manager known as the “First Lady of Boxing,” stated that Lange will be looking forward to defending his titles and “consolidating” other titles by winning them and bringing them home to Virginia. Fight fans can expect more Lange title fights in the near future.

Co-Main Event – Jonathan “Reid Dawg” Reid vs. George “Wartime” Rivera

Both Jonathan Reid (35-13-7, 19 KOs) and George “Wartime” Rivera (13-6, 4 KOs) are returning fighters to the Patriot Center. From the beginning, Rivera had momentum on his side, and he had Reid stumbling a few times through the rounds. Rivera’s strong defense made him an elusive target. He worked his jab to get in and out, but he was not executing combinations effectively. Rivera won the fight with a unanimous decision.

Undercard

The six fights on the undercard were as dramatic and exciting as the main events. Here are some highlights.

Lawrence Jones (4-5-2, 1 KO) and Jose Felix (10-10-2, 3 KOs) started off the evening with a six-round fight that went the distance. Jones is no stranger to the Patriot Center as this was his fourth appearance on the Jimmy Lange Boxing fight cards.  Jones has a strong local fan base, and they were vocal this evening. Jones, a southpaw, worked his jab in the early rounds, and both fighters seemed to be feeling each other out. As the rounds progressed, so did the intensity. Jones was able to get to the body several times. Felix continued to put pressure on Jones but was still not getting the right momentum. By round five, Felix’s bloody face was baring the results of Jones’ attacks, but that didn’t deter Felix. In the last round, Felix stunned Jones and got him with a hard cross. Felix went on a final attack to do as much damage as he could.  It was a valiant effort, but the win went to Jones with a unanimous decision.

The next fight was an eight-round bout between Scott "Cujo" Sigmon (17-3, 8 KOs) and Bruce "The Rage" Rumbolz (22-23-2, 13 KOs). Sigmon, being the shorter fighter, was working to get inside and attack with body punches.  Rumbolz was not effective in keeping Sigmon out at a distance. This continued for most of the fight. In round eight, Sigmon’s attacks had Rumbolz stumbling, which got the crowd going. Sigmon gained momentum from the crowd and tried to finish off his opponent, but Rumbolz was resilient and would not go down. Rumbolz landed a few good punches, but in the last few seconds, he seemed to lose steam. Sigmon finished the last round with a flurry of exclamation points and won the fight with a unanimous decision.

The only female fight on the card was between Tori “Sho Nuff” Nelson (5-0-1), from Ashburn, VA and Michelle Garland (1-2-1), from Philadelphia, PA. Both women are highly decorated fighters. Garland is the former National Golden Gloves champion. Nelson, a three-time Washington, DC Golden Gloves champion, is the newly crowned World Boxing Council (WBC) Middleweight Champion. Just six weeks ago she upset Lorissa Rivas in Trinidad and Tobago for the title win. The Nelson-Garland fight was fast-paced and energetic, with both fighters attacking and exchanging blows to the face and body. In the end, Nelson was victorious with a unanimous decision.

One of the more controversial fights was the junior middleweight bout between Zain "Tiger" Shah (5-0, 3 KOs) and Julius "Vicious" Kennedy (7-3-1, 3 KOs). Shah, making his third appearance at the Patriot Center, was once again the taller and leaner fighter. He immediately went on attack in round one. He had Kennedy in the corner and flurried body shots on him. Kennedy was able to work his way out of the situation and even tired Shah out a little in the process. In round two, Shah caught Kennedy with a punch that knocked him down. While Kennedy was on his knees, Shah hit him again, which is normally a foul. That last punch ended the fight for Kennedy, but no penalty was given, and Shah was the victor via knockout at 1:50 in round two. It is possible Kennedy and his team will file a protest.

Todd “White Lightning” Wilson (11-0, 3 KOs) faced off against former IBF World Featherweight Champion, Eric “Might Mouse” Aiken (16-8-1, 12 KOs). While both are local fighters, Wilson’s fans came out strong to support him as he tried to keep his undefeated record alive. Aiken, who had been helping Lange train, took this fight with only two weeks to prepare. This was his step back into ring after a self-imposed, three-year “exile” from competitive boxing. Wilson, who outweighs Aiken, and was able to use his size to bulldoze into Aiken and deliver serious punch combinations. In round 3, Aiken was able to gain momentum and did knockdown Wilson. But overall, his jabs were not penetrating, and his corner kept yelling that he was waiting too long to throw punches. The fight went the distance and ended in a unanimous decision for Wilson. After the fight, Aiken commented that even with the loss, he felt good and will be working on his comeback. There’s already a rematch scheduled for December.

In the fight between Michael "No Joke" Stewart (48-6-3, 25 KOs) and Jimmy LeBlanc (12-21-4, 4 KOs), Stewart was the more formidable fighter. LeBlanc fought Lange at the Patriot Center in July 2010 and was knocked out in the second round. His fate this evening was no different. Stewart quickly demonstrated that he was the more the skilled fighter, and he had LeBlanc unsteady. With less than two minutes into round 2, Stewart’s uppercuts won him the TKO. After the fight, Stewart called out Lange. Fans are waiting to see if this match-up will happen.

RESULTS RECAP

*Interesting observation…every winner this evening fought out of the red corner.  If the fighters were assigned to their corners randomly, the chances of all 8 winners coming out of the red corner is like flipping a coin and getting 8 consecutive heads. The odds of that are only 1 in 256.