Club News

03/05/10

Open again.

02/22/10

The Hampton Sports Festival in Virginia turned out to be a fantastic experience. It certainly isn't often that one gets to witness such a wide variety of combat sports taking place under the same roof, let alone be part of the attraction. Among the featured sports were Tae Kwan Do, Jiu-Jitsu, Kickboxing, MMA, and what we were there for -Boxing.

Middleweight Claudio "Everlast" Fernandez's first bout on Saturday wound up being one of the most exciting of the night as he went toe to toe with skilled Pennsylvania boxer, Robert Sweeney. The two exchanged incredibly hard punches throughout the entire match, with Claudio being knocked down in the first round but springing back to his feet instantly. The crowd roared with approval during round 3 when Claudio performed his "Ali Shuffle" after taking a right cross that could have felled a 600-pound gorilla. As thrilling as this fight was, Claudio ultimately lost by close decision, which didn't deter him one bit from stepping back into the ring the next day against Ronald De Jesus, another boxer from Pennsylvania.

Things seemed to be going better for Claudio this time as he maintained a close lead throughout the fight. But he apparently dropped his head one too many times for the referee, who, to the surprise of many, stopped the bout with only about ten seconds remaining in the final round, declaring De Jesus the winner. Note to boxers: Failure to keep your eyes on your opponent at all times during a boxing match can sometimes lead a ref to believe that you are hurt, even if you are not. Such was the case in this situation. You'll get 'em next time, Claudio.