Taronze Takes The Title!

      In the most important win of his pro career, Taronze Washington came into Houston and outripped crowd darling Guadalupe "Man of Steel" Martinez in a rematch to take the Texas Middleweight Title on October 18th, 2008 at Kicks Indoor Soccer.

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The fighters maintained an extraordinary pace for eight rounds.

The momentum repeatedly swung back and forth.

Washington repeatedly hammered Martinez to the head as he bored in with body shots and combinations.

Martinez developed a cut on his right eyebrow early in the first round, which the referee had the doctor check at least twice during the fight.        

Martinez continued forward and pressed the action, digging solid shots to the body and landing multiple hooks and uppercuts to the head of Washington throughout the match.

But the "Man of Steel" didn't have the mobility or the defenses to evade many of Washington's countershots.

     The fighters last faced each other in Houston on July 18th at the Grand Plaza Hotel, where Martinez won a close majority decision. In fact Washington, who brought a record of 9-10 with 5 KO's, had lost his last seven fights in a row coming into this match.

"I put in a whole lot of work," the elated Washington said after the match. "I already knew what to expect. I wasn't trying to trade. I was pushing him back, forcing the fight myself. I knew I could hurt him from the first fight we had. He's not a puncher. He's just a hard worker. My hat goes off to him. I love him to death but it's just my night tonight."

 One judge scored the fight even at 76-76, but for the other two it wasn't really close. They both saw it 78-74 for Washington, giving him the majority decision. Martinez falls to 16-2 with 9 KO's.

 "I was begging and pleading for this rematch," said Washington. "I finally got it. You don't get too many second chances. You've got to take advantage. With hard work and dedication, just one step to the championship of the world, baby!"

"Fire Man" Burns Menninger!

Middleweight Lanard "Fireman" Lane of Houston easily outclassed Khalik Memminger of Killeen, Texas.

Lane used head and body combination shots to knock Memminger down twice in the first round.

      Memminger brought a record of 4-6-3 with 2 KO's. He was coming off a 5th round TKO victory over Calvin Pitts in Fort Worth on August 22nd. Memminger landed several shots throughout the fight but they seemed to have little effect on Lane, who dominated with handspeed and power.

After Memminger barely survived round three,  Lane got his opponent into the ropes and landed several combinations, at which point the referee stopped the contest at 1:54 of the 4th round.

Lanard"Fireman" Lane remains undefeated at 5-0 with 4 KO's!!

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 Smith, Guzman Draw!!

Cruiserweight Maurenzo "T-Diddy" Smith of Houston fought to a six-round draw against journeyman Hilario Guzman of Orlando, Florida.

The menacing and wild-swinging Guzman brought a record of 6-23-5 with 1 KO.

Guzman offered little in the way of refined boxing skills, which allowed Smith to land effective counterpunches.

 But while Smith landed some solid shots in combination, he brought little in the way of sustained aggression.

Guzman appeared to become frustrated and then tired in the later rounds of the bout.

One judge scored the match 58-56 for Smith, another had it 58-56 for Guzman, while the third saw it even at 57-57, making the outcome a draw. Maurenzo "T-Diddy" Smith is now 7-2-1 with 6 KO's.

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