Brick City Boxing

A profile of boxer, professional trainer and fitness model Sharon Gaines

Record: 9-6, 3 KOs
http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=245482
Fighting Weight: 118-123lbs (Super Bantam)
Current Residence: Kansas City, MO
Hometown: Seattle, WA
Gym: Olympic Gym
Sign: Cancer (July 10)
Ring Name: Don't have one yet! Suggestions?
Favorite Food: Eggs (weird, I know, scrambled, fried, omelet, you name it I'll eat it), Chicken (especially chicken strips), Chocolate & Peanut Butter (Kit-Kats, Reeces Pieces, etc)
High School: Bothell High in Washington State
College: University of Washington (1991-95)
Degree: BA in Communications/Journalism
Most Inspiring Athletes
Past: Jackie Robinson & Jesse Owens
Female: Marion Jones (She is so composed, what w/all the pressure lately).
Male: R-Kal Truluck (Green Bay Packer) Pet: Rasta, my dog, 1/2 Jack Russell Terrier, 1/2 Shit-tsu.

A profile of New York City’s Olympian
Record: 5-0, 3 KO’s
http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=305319
Age: 26
Born: 7/30/1980

A future star in the making...

BrickCityBoxing is glad to be a friend of future boxing star Roberto Benitez.

Though born in the Dominican Republic, Roberto was raised in the Lower East Side in the Jacob Riis housing projects. In order to survive his tough surroundings, Roberto started to box. In the ring Roberto learned more than just how to protect himself.

He learned he had a gift.

Roberto has put together a stellar amateur boxing resume, including being a 10 time National Champion, 1999 USOEC Athlete of the Year, Goodwill Games silver medalist, and 4-time Everlast US Champion. He completed his amateur career by being named the first US Olympian from NYC since Riddick Bowe.

And Roberto matches the skills and ability he brings into the ring outside the ring as well. Wanting to be a positive role model, Roberto takes the time to speak to children about the importance of education and the perils of drug abuse.

Roberto is currently preparing to begin his professional career. He is putting together his management team and getting ready to go for the big time. He looks forward to generating a loyal New York following.

[FIGHT UPDATES: In his professional debut, Roberto scored a unanimous decision over Jenkins Alvaraz in Miami, Florida in April. In his second pro bout, Roberto knocked out Jorge Lucas. In his third fight, he stopped Nick Shaheen in the first round.]

We encourage you to hop on the Roberto Benitez bandwagon early with us. It's going to be a fun ride!

Recap of Roberto Benitez's distinguished amateur career:

* 1996 - Junior Olympic National Champion
* 1997 - Under 19 National Champion, National Golden Gloves Champion
* 1998 - Goodwill Games Silver Medalist (defeated Cuban World Champion Manuel Mantilla en route to the silver medal)
* 1999 - First U.S. Championships title, National Golden Gloves Champion
* 2000 - Second U.S. Championships title
* 2001 - Third U.S. Championships title, U.S. Challenge Champion, World Championships Team Member
* 2002 - U.S. Championships silver medal, National Golden Gloves silver medal
* 2003 - U.S. Championships silver medal, U.S. Challenge silver medal
* 2004 - Fourth U.S. Championships title, Olympic Team Trials Champion, Olympic Box-offs Champion, Named U.S. Olympian

A profile of the Newark, New Jersey Olympian
Record: 17-2, 12 KO's
http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=32521
Weight: Super Middleweight (168 lbs.)
Height: 6-2
Age: 28
Born: 7/30/77 in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic
Lives: Newark, New Jersey
Began Boxing: 1989
Dominant Hand: Right

Ever since he was a youngster in his native San Cristobal, Dominican Republic, Jerson Ravelo wanted to become a fighter.

However, it wouldn’t be until 1989 after he had already immigrated to the United States that the future 1998 and 1999 NJ Hall of Fame Amateur Boxer of the Year, decided to make his intentions known. He reluctantly decided to write a letter to his father, leaving it on the kitchen table for him to read. In it he wrote about his desire to become a fighter.

Much to Jerson’s surprise, the older Ravelo showed support right from the beginning, introducing him to the NJ Hall of Fame Boxing Gym in Newark, New Jersey, at the age of 12. Although boxing has consumed most of his life ever since, Ravelo graduated from Barringer High School in Newark in 1995 and plans to study computer programming in the future. His boxing life, however, has already brought him great accolades and he hopes that the sport will also help him realize the dream of giving his family a better life. "One of my biggest wishes is to tell my parents to stop working," says Ravelo. "I want to be rich so I can support my family."

Jerson took his first steps towards making that wish come true on January 27, 2001 at Madison Square Garden as he made his professional debut on DiBella Entertainment’s "Night of the Olympians" card. Those first steps were very impressive. In a dominant display of speed and power, Jerson scored an early first round KO over Miguel Guittierrez (1-1, 0 KO’s).

In his second professional bout on March 14, 2001 at Yonkers Raceway, Jerson took on Enroy Toney (0-1), an awkward 6'1" southpaw, in a four round bout. Despite Toney’s efforts to turn most of the bout into a wrestling match, Ravelo landed numerous heavy right hands en route to a unanimous decision victory.

On March 30, 2001 Ravelo faced Tommy Barker (2-7-1, 1 KO) at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The first round featured a barrage of precise and powerful combinations including numerous vicious body attacks. Jerson remained in control as he floored Barker once in round two before referee Frank Cappuccino stopped the bout a few seconds later.

On the undercard of Bernard Hopkins vs. Keith Holmes on April 14, 2001, Ravelo took on Manu Ntoh (1-2, 1 KO) at Madison Square Garden. Landing numerous hard right hands, he knocked Ntoh down in the first round and again in the third. Jerson weathered a furious attack in round four by using footwork and quick reflexes en route to a unanimous decision victory.

Ravelo needed less than one round to dispatch his next opponent on May 4, 2001 at the Sands Hotel in Atlantic City. Stacey Williams was stunned by Jerson's first heavily landed shot about a minute into the round. From that point on, Williams attempted to run, but Jerson caught him in the corners on numerous occasions unloading quick combinations to the head and body. A big, straight Ravelo right hand sent Williams to the canvas for the ten count at 2:18 of round one.

On June 26, 2001 on the deck of the U.S.S. Intrepid, Jerson faced Bert Jackson (3-5, 3 KO's). Ravelo asserted his dominance early. Midway through the first round, he pinned Jackson against the ropes and unloaded a quick combination that culminated with a tremendous Ravelo left. Jackson dropped to the canvas and the referee quickly stopped the fight.

Jerson made his first national television appearance against Alex Armenta (7-1, 6 KO's) on August 24, 2001 at the Mountaineer Racetrack in Chester, West Virginia on ESPN2. He came out quickly and dominated, scoring a knockdown one minute into the fight after a heavy right hook to the body. Seventeen seconds later, Armenta again went down compliments of a huge Ravelo overhand right. Thirty seconds later, Ravelo pinned Armenta against the ropes and unloaded a furious flurry of punches which culminated with a left hook that sent Armenta down for a third and final time.

On December 1, 2001 Jerson took on Troy Barnes (7-7-2, 2 KO's ) at the Jacob Javitz Center in New York City. Using a solid jab to get inside and utilizing a consistent body attack, Ravelo looked more seasoned than in any of his previous fights. Barnes, a solid Philadelphia veteran, proved to be Ravelo’s toughest test to date, yet Ravelo still won all rounds on each judges’ scorecard en route to unanimous decision victory.

On January 5, 2002, on the undercard of the HBO Boxing After Dark show "Real Men, Real Fights" at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas, Jerson faced southpaw Eric Olds (4-1, 3 KO's). A little more than half way through the first round, Jerson trapped Olds in a corner and unloaded a five-punch combination that sent him to the canvas. Olds beat the ten count, but was unable to continue and the referee halted the bout.

On March 9, 2002, Ravelo became the first member of the Olympic Class of 2000 to reach double digit wins when he scored a TKO victory over Ted Don Muller (15-2-1, 5 KO's) at the A.J. Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh. From the opening bell, Jerson immediately went on the attack, finding an opponent willing to exchange with him. Both fighters landed frequently, with Jerson landing the harder shots. As the fight progressed, they continued to exchange, but it became clear that Ravelo was the stronger of the two fighters. Mid-way through the third, Jerson dug in and landed a ferocious body shot that sent Muller to the canvas. Despite being hurt, Muller got up and finished the round. In the fourth, Ravelo continued to attack and after a barrage of unanswered punches in the last minute of the round, the referee halted the bout.

Jerson returned to the Mecca of Boxing, Madison Square Garden, on April 27, 2002 against Aaron Norwood (20-3-2, 9 KO's) on the undercard of McCline vs. Briggs. In one of his most impressive performances to date, Jerson did not disappoint the hundreds of Ravelo fans who turned out for the fight. Using a stiff jab and his superior speed and power, Jerson dominated his more experienced opponent from the opening bell. In the third, Jerson began to go to the body, forcing Norwood to drop his guard. Seeing the opening, he unleashed furious combinations to Norwood’s head. The referee called a halt to the bout after Ravelo landed a crushing right hand, snapping Norwood’s head back and sending him staggering across the ring with 1:08 left in the third.

Jerson was sidelined with a disc problem in his lower back from June through August 2002. After rehabilitative therapy he made his first premium cable television appearance (Shobox) when he returned to action on October 5, 2002 against the always tough George Walton (11-2, 7 KO's) at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, FL.

Hand injuries that ended up requiring several surgeries would end up keeping him sidelined until his return January 4th, 2004 against Jason Deitrich. The fight was the televised ESPN card headlined by Matt Vanda-vs-Sam Garr, however Ravelo's fight was not televised because of his long inactivity. Ravelo won a 5th round TKO over Deitrich.

Next up after the long layoff and just one fight back, Ravelo took his next step on his championship route by stepping up to face a tough, but very underrated David Lopez from Mexico (21-12 16 KO's) on April 2nd, 2004. He lost the fight to Lopez after 9 rounds of tough back and forth action by both men, and Ravelo felt that was his wake up call, and decided to head back to the gym the following Monday, April 5th. He decided to go back to what first got him all his amateur credentials. Jerson returned to one of his first coaches, Oscar Suarez. It was Suarez who took Jerson on to his first amateur national title.

After training with Oscar for several months and being very eager to make a return to the ring, Ravelo took on Las Vegas based Muhhammad Said. In Said's last victory just 2 months prior to facing Ravelo, he defeated a durable Javier Jarreguei (22-2) out of Mexico. Ravelo defeated Said with a majority decision, although the commentators and every boxing site that covered the fight, including bragging rights, gave Ravelo every round.

Ravelo is on what's been a very hard road to his dream of becoming a world champion, but promises he will not stop until he becomes one. He is a warrior who refuses to be held back from accomplishing his goals.

National recognition for Ravelo started in 1998, when he won the U.S. regional tournament held in Lake Placid, New York. Not being a U.S. citizen at the time kept him from participating in the U.S. Nationals held in Colorado Springs, Colorado that year. A victory would have guaranteed him a spot on the U.S. roster of fighters competing in the Goodwill Games held in New York City in 1998.

Nonetheless, he overcame that disappointment by capturing the 1998 National Golden Gloves Championship in Biloxi, Mississippi.

In 1998, Ravelo finally became a United States citizen, which made him eligible to compete at the U.S. Olympic Trials for the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia.

In 1999 he captured a gold medal at the U.S. Challenge Cup, beating the highly ranked Jeff Lacy. This earned Jerson a spot on the U.S. team that would go onto the World Championships in Houston, Texas. In that tournament, Ravelo lost in his first international bout to the representative from Turkey. Still he remained ranked No. 1 in the U.S. and was considered to be a leading candidate to represent the country in the Middleweight division at the Sydney Games.

The year 2000 couldn’t have come any sooner for Ravelo. He had set his sights on accomplishing his lifelong dream of making the Olympic team. The path towards that dream, however, was about to take an unexpected turn. His loss on a controversial decision to Jeff Lacy at the Olympic trials temporarily dashed his hopes of competing in Sydney.

Holding dual citizenship (Ravelo never gave up his Dominican citizenship) meant another chance at Olympic glory. Although the Dominican Republic had already chosen their Olympic squad, they agreed to see Ravelo perform at the Independence Cup. What followed was an explosive exhibition of power and boxing skills resulting in two KO's and one victory by decision. The road to Sydney however, was still not set in stone. In order to compete in Sydney he would have to win one of the three America’s Olympic Qualifiers. After a controversial and disheartening loss in the first qualifier, Jerson cemented a spot on the Dominican Team by winning the second qualifier in Tijuana. "My goal had always been to go to the Olympics," says Ravelo. "I never gave the Gold Medal a thought, but once I made it there, that’s all that mattered to me."

Winning the Gold was not meant to be, as days before the Games began, it was determined that he would be matched up with the Australian representative in his first round bout. Up 7-3 on points in the second round, Ravelo was not credited with a single punch in the last two rounds and lost by a mere point in an 8-7 decision. Ringside observers and TV commentators unanimously derided the poor judging that turned the fight in the Australian’s favor. Commentators said, "I thought about Roy Jones in 1988," referring to Jones' controversial loss to the South Korean at the Seoul Games. Never one to harp on misfortune, Jerson was able to see the positive side of his experience, "Still, my first dream was accomplished. I always wanted to make it to the Olympics."

When recently asked about his professional career, Jerson replied "Boxing in the Olympic Games was my amateur goal; winning a world championship is my professional goal. I’m ready to prove myself."

Record: 13-1, 8 KO's
http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=196686
Weight: Light Heavyweight
Height: 6' 0"
Age: 29
Born: 9/7/77 in Newark, NJ
Lives: Lyndhurst, NJ
Promoter: CES
Dominant Hand: Right

Wayne Johnsen is an up-and-coming light heavyweight. A good friend of BrickCityBoxing, he has appeared in multiple events in New Jersey.

Want more information on Wayne Johnsen... read our exclusive interview with Wayne Johnson

By Danny Serratelli at Ringside for DoghouseBoxing.com (March 20, 2006)

James Toney and Hasim Rahman fought a close fight on just about everyone in the building's scorecard (except maybe judge John Stewart who had it 117-111 Rahman). For the most part, the decision as to who won each round appeared to weigh on whether James Toney's quality work was enough to outdo Hasim Rahman's quantity of work. In the end the judge's scorecards read, 117-111 for Hasim Rahman and a 114-114 draw on the other two judge's cards.

At the end of 12 rounds my card read 115-114 for Hasim Rahman and most of press row had the fight even or a point or two either way. It appeared that Toney, who is believed by most to be the technically superior fighter, underachieved, and Rahman overachieved. Rahman outworked Toney for most of the bout, and entered the fight as the WBC's heavyweight champion. This is probably why more people may have favored Rahman despite a consensus that a leaner more motivated looking Toney would have fared better.

A closer look at the 3 judge's scorecards shows that everyone had trouble scoring the fight in which almost every round was a close one. There was very little consistency on the three judge's cards. While two judges came to the same conclusion, a 114-114 draw, how they got there was very different. In fact the scorecard that seemed the most troubling was not the 117-111 scored by Judge Stewart, but the 114-114 by Judge Uratani Nobuaki. He gave 5 of the first 6 rounds to Rahman and 5 of the final 6 to Toney.

From ringside James Toney appeared to come out and win more of the early rounds. He was crafty and slick for the first few rounds and did excellent work on the inside. It appeared early that while Hasim came to fight and was busier, Toney was doing the damage and was picking his spots nicely. However, coming in at 237 pounds appeared to hurt James Toney.

After the first few rounds it looked like it was Toney's fight to lose. However, Rahman was clearly the more conditioned fighter, and was very determined to keep his title, despite Toney's apparent superior skill. After the first few rounds it looked like Toney either knew he didn't have what he needed in the tank, or was convinced that he was going to knock Rahman out with a big right hand. He missed the big right several times, but also timed it perfectly, and landed it several times. However, he still couldn't back Rahman up.

According to punchstat numbers, Rahman only landed 16 more punches in the fight, but he threw 300 more and had more left in the late rounds. He was the busier fighter all night, and that apparently won several of the close rounds for him. Toney's effectiveness did not go unnoticed. Despite the fact that Rahman outworked him, he would have won a split decision and the WBC heavyweight title in the process if he would have won the 12th round. As it turned out Rahman needed to win the 12th round to get the draw, and retain his title. In fact Rahman swept the cards in the 12th round, a round in which Toney admitted he was tired.

Afterwards, both fighters showed a lot of class and respect for each other. In fact when the day comes when James Toney gets inducted into the hall of fame, he may want to call Rahman to give a speech. Toney said Rahman hit him the hardest he'd been hit in 16 years, since he fought Merqui Sosa. Rahman said he thought Toney hit harder than Evander Holyfield. Rahman further stated that he wasn't afraid to admit that he learned a thing or two; he was a fan of Toney when he was a super-middleweight and that he fought one of the greatest fighters ever.

Toney clearly wants a rematch and Rahman said he would gladly oblige, but Bob Arum said it was up to the WBC. After a little discussion over a potential rematch, and after Toney saying, "We're not like these Germans and Russians, we like to fight, there's not gonna be a white heavyweight champ", Oleg Maskaev's promoter Dennis Rappaport, jumped from his seat and stated that Maskaev is the number one contender and was next in line to fight for Rahman's WBC belt and will fight to enforce their right to the title fight.

A fight between Maskaev and Rahman is interesting considering Maskaev knocked Rahman out back in 1999. Maskaev is also 10-0 with 8 KO's over the last 4 years. Rahman said he is open to whatever the people want and both Rahman and Toney stated, "If it don't make dollars, it don't make sense". Both veterans say the belts are nice to have, but they want the money fights.

Undercard:

Undefeated junior-welterweight Dmitriy Salita 24-0-1, 14 KO's came out of an 8 round fight with a draw with tough opponent Ramon Montano, 10-3-2, 1 KO. Scores were 75-74 Salita, 76-74 Montano, and 75-75. There was some questionable scoring in this one after Salita was dropped twice in round one and barely survived the round.

Super-middleweights- Chuck Mussachio, 6-0, 3 KO's (Majority Decision 40-36, 39-37, 38-38) over Edward Hemphill, 3-3, 1 KO.

Heavyweights- Tony Thompson, 27-1, 17 KO's (KO 4, 2:54) over Maurice Wheeler 10-5-1, 1 KO.

Heavyweights- Travis Kaufman, 3-0, 3 KO's (KO 1, 2:27) over Robert Bell, 2-2, 2 KO's.

Junior-welterweights- Vincent Arroyo, 4-0, 3 KO's (TKO 4, 1:55) over Adam Czacher 2-3.

Super-bantamweights- Suzannah Warner, 3-3, 2 KO's (Majority Decision 4, 39-37, 39-37, 38-38) over previously undefeated Noriko Kariya 3-1.

Light-heavyweights- Bobby Rooney, 5-2-1, 3 KO's (draw, 39-37 Rooney, 38-38 twice) Derrick Sierra, 1-4-3, 1 KO.

By Danny Serratelli at Ringside for DoghouseBoxing.com(March 12, 2006)

Main Events brought the boxing fans 'Back to the Future II' last night from Schuetzen Park in North Bergen New Jersey. In an action packed main event, undefeated super-middleweight Giovanni Lorenzo, 20-0 (12), came away with a TKO victory over Archak Ter-Melikestian, 15-3 (12).

Despite the fact that Lorenzo entered the fight undefeated and as the apparent favorite, Archak was both on paper and in reality his toughest opponent he has faced in his career. A look at Archak's record shows that all 3 of his losses have come against fighters who were undefeated at the time. The fight was action packed and very close. After 7 round of action, one judge had Archak leading, one judge had Lorenzo up and the third had it even. The winner of the fight would end up being the winner of the 8th and final round, but there would be no 8th round.

Throughout the fight Lorenzo looked faster and probably landed more punches, but Archak appeared to be throwing the harder punches seeking a knockout that wasn't to be. Lorenzo stood toe to toe and brawled with Archak more then anyone expected, and was effective. He had a point taken away in round number 6 after several warnings from referee Harvey Dock for elbowing, and punching behind the head.

The suspense ended in the corner after round number 7 when Archak was unable to answer the bell for round number 8 and Lorenzo was awarded a 7th round TKO victory. It appeared that Archak was vomiting in his corner after the 7th round and as a result the fight was stopped. Lorenzo showed a decent chin and was resilient after Archak had landed some powerful shots throughout.

In the co-feature of the evening, Lyndhurst , New Jersey's super-middleweight Wayne Johnsen, 11-1, 6 KO's came back to Schuetzen Park with a vengeance. Just 4 months ago, Johnsen would suffer his first loss, a questionable majority decision on Main Events first show at this venue. Wayne returned on the Gatti-Damgaard undercard and won a majority decision. In both of those fights Johnsen fought technically sound fights, but was a little cautious. Last night he was on a mission and he stepped up his game to the next level.

Johnsen fought an undefeated fighter in Clifton Roberson, who entered the fight at 2-0-1. Roberson was a game fighter who came to NJ to win. Johnsen started slow, but made the right adjustments every round with Roberson who couldn't decide if he wanted to fight from the right or left side. Midway through the fight, Johnson would start to take control. Everything appeared to come together for Johnsen who started working the jab and following up with powerful right hands and left hooks.

In round number 5 Johnsen caught Roberson, and did not let him off the hook. The big right hand did most of the damage when Roberson was knocked through the ropes. Roberson beat the count, but Johnsen was relentless and attacked Roberson until referee Dave Franciosi was forced to jump in and stop the bout at 2:15 of round number 5. The crowd was ecstatic as Johnsen scored the knockout in a fight that was probably his best performance as a professional to date.

Undercard results

Heavyweights – Mariusz Wach 8-0 (2) UD 6 Earl Ladson 12-9 (7)
Light Middleweights – Mariusz Cendrowski 11-0 (6) UD 6 Hicket Lau 19-16-2 (6)
Cruiserweights – Gregory Soszynski UD 4 Lloyd Wilson 3-3 (3).

By Danny Serratelli at Ringside for DoghouseBoxing.com (March 11, 2006)

The successful Broadway Boxing series continued last night as DiBella Entertainment put on an entertaining show at the Manhattan Center in New York City. In the Main Event, Edgar Santana, 17-2 (11), stopped Francisco Campos, 20-5-1 (12). Santana out worked Campos over seven rounds and eventually it paid off. Campos was knocked down in the seventh and did not answer the bell for the 8th.

In the co-feature, unbeaten Gary Stark, 14-0 (7), scored an impressive TKO over Debind Thapa 20-5-1 (11). Stark worked hard throughout and seemed very motivated to get Thapa out of there. The valiant Thapa absorbed some tremendous shots, but eventually the punishment caught up with him and he did not come out for the 6th round.

In the other featured fight of the evening, and the most important return in boxing that nobody knew about, super-middleweight Jerson Ravelo, 15-1 (10), easily handled his business. Ravelo came out sharp despite his 17-month layoff and calmly destroyed the game Ray Darden 9-12 (4). Even with Ravelo taking his time and picking his shots, he was able to drop Darden a couple times before the stoppage which came at 2:18 of round number 1.

Ravelo is the biggest threat to anyone with a belt from 160-175 pounds that casual boxing fans may not know about or remember. The guys who do know him (other fighters in and around his weight class) do not want to fight him, and you almost can't blame them. Ravelo can beat anyone from 160-175 any day of the week, all he needs is another opportunity after being out of action for extended periods of time a couple of times in his career (mainly because of managerial problems). Remember the name… Jerson Ravelo, you will see it attached to the words World Champion very soon.

Heavyweight Livin Castillo, 14-4 (9), defeated Osborn Machimana, 10-3-1 (7), by decision in their eight round bout.

Lightweight Carlos Vinan, 5-1 (1), won a unanimous decision over Washington Hago 2-2 over 4 rounds. Despite Vinan's trainer's claims that he doesn't have much to offer, Vinan again proved to be a tough customer and out worked and out muscled Hago who had looked like the bigger and stronger fighter early on in the bout.

Junior welterweight Eduardo Valdez 3-3-2 (2) stopped Lorenzo Bethea, 5-1 in round number 2.