Boxing websites and writers enjoy giving away awards at the end of each year. They give away awards such as “Best Knockout”, “Round of the Year”, “Boxer of the Year”, “Best New Prospect”, etc.
Sometimes the websites rely on fan voting or the writers go only by the fights they see or hear about. Most times, they get it right and everyone is happy. Sometimes there is room for debate, which makes these awards fun to discuss among fans and media across the world.
One thing most observers don’t do is pay attention to the small venues. Many fights occur on smaller boxing cards that turn out to be classics. Who can forget the2001 battle between Julio Cesar Gonzalez and Julian Letterlough? I can’t. Do fans even know this fight took place? In the battle, Gonzalez (the winner) went down three times. Letterlough went down twice. The odd thing is that this fight still went the full twelve rounds. What a great scrap!
There are so many good fights that I’ve watched over the years in men’s and women’s boxing. A great deal of them happened at small venues.
One fight that will get my vote for KO of the Year was the July 9, 2015 matchup between Travis “Seveer” Reeves and Samer Barakat. The year 2015 is not over and my opinion could change in the next few weeks. However, at the time of this writing I’ll go with what I know.
The battle took place at Tall Cedar’s Hall in Maryland. The venue was small, but the house was packed. The eight-round affair was a back and forth battle, with neither fighter establishing a major advantage. That all changed in the sixth round. The fight was headed to the scorecards and fans were clamoring for someone to do something. Travis Reeves was that someone and he took heed to the fans wishes.
If you recall “Big” George Foreman’s fight with Michael Moorer, 45-year old Foreman won by knockout to became the oldest man to claim the heavyweight title. Foreman turned 46 days later. In the fight, he threw a one-two that caused Moorer to take a step back and immediately threw the same one-two to drop him. Moorer was finished.
In the Reeves/Barakat fight, Travis employed the same approach. While Big George was stationary, Reeves threw more of a “walk-you-down” one-two combo…. Antonio Margarito style. He threw a left and more of a looping right than Foreman did, and it backed Barakat into the corner. He immediately threw the same combination again to get Barakat out of there.
While Moorer was about to get to his feet after the ten-count, he was encouraged by physicians to stay down until he was checked out. Barakat on the other hand wasn’t as fortunate. He was laid out for a while and eventually taken by stretcher to the hospital.
Here is a short video of the knockout. Fans, judge for yourselves. I had a better angle on the night of the fight and believe me, it looked worse than this video illustrates.
Travis is scheduled to fight again next Saturday 12/12 on SHAWSTYLE PRODUCTIONS AND SHABAZZ BROTHERZ card at Du Burns Arena in Baltimore.
Travis, my man. You have my vote for 2015 KO of The Year!
Check it out:
THE FIGHT JOURNAL 
I will say by looking at the end of this fight – Travis has mastered the Technique of Finishing off he’s Opponent’ He’s coach Me. Chin along with his trainer former boxer Vernon Mason has done a great job in terms of heaving Travis be a Thinker in the Ring.
So many of the up and coming fighters today are being taken through the learning and training so darn quickly these days were their”re not being taught the “Technical Art of Boxing”! Not are they getting enough experience prior to going Professional by fighting enough Amateur Fights.
That’sone of the reason my husband Former 3 time Champion and 2 times Golden Glove championI- Kenny Baysmore and myself (Zulieka Baysmore 1st female Professional Boxing Manager and Coach have Partnered with Honey Boxing Gym Owned by Travis Coach Mr. Chin here in Baltimore. Kenny Baysmore Trainer there a way for him to give back since he retired from boxing in 2004. We want to develop the next Generation of Professional Champions by training them to reach Excellency in this Art of Boxing! Travis is on that Road to Excellency as a Future Champion in his Weight Division!