Roc Nation Sports throne boxing May 13 at DC Armory

NEW YORK, NY (May 5, 2016) – Two televised bouts and four non-televised undercard bouts will round out the card when Dusty Hernandez-Harrison (29-0, 16 KOs) of Washington, D.C. returns to the ring on Friday, May 13 to take on Bakersfield, California’s Mike “The Silent Assassin” Dallas Jr. (21-3-1, 10 KOs) in a 10-round welterweight bout at the DC Armory in Washington, D.C. The fight will headline a throne boxing event that will be televised live on BET beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET and will also be streamed live on global music and entertainment platform, TIDAL.com.

Opening the telecast will be an eight-round featherweight showdown between Orlando “Orlandito” Del Valle (20-2, 15 KOs) and Thomas “KO” Snow (18-2, 5 KOs). The second televised fight will see the professional debut of highly touted Philadelphia heavyweight prospect Darmani “Rock Solid” Rock against the beltway’s own Carlos “DC Diamond Cutter” Black (1-3).

The non-televised undercard will feature Caguas, Puerto Rico’s Abner “Pin” Cotto (19-3, 9 KOs) against veteran Juan Jose “Pinocho” Beltran (29-25-3, 18 KOs) of Los Mochis, Mexico in an eight-round junior welterweight matchup; Brooklyn’s undefeated Junior “The Young God” Younan (8-0, 6 KOs) facing Breedon, West Virginia’s Austin “Speedy” Marcum (10-6-1, 5 KOs) in a six-round light heavyweight fight; former NFL linebacker Mike Balogun (5-0, KOs) of Upper Marlborough, Maryland and Devon Mosley (0-4-1) of Capitol Heights, Maryland squaring off in a four-round heavyweight bout; and Greenbelt, Maryland’s Sam “Vanilla Gorilla” Crossed (2-0, 1 KO) against Damion Reed (2-13, 1 KO) of Danville, Virginia in a four-round cruiserweight fight. 2008 Olympic Silver Medalist Zhang “Big Bang” Zhilei (8-0, 6 KOs) of Zhengzhou, China will also see action in a six-round heavyweight bout against an opponent to be determined.

Roc Nation Sports will bring names from the entertainment world to the event, which will showcase a special performance by Roc Nation’s own breakout artist singer/songwriter Justine Skye. The Brooklyn songstress and social media maven who garnered attention, and over two million YouTube views, with her cover of Drake’s “Headlines” and current single, “I’m Yours” featuring Vic Mensa, is currently taking over radio airwaves nationwide. The evening will also feature a DJ set from Roc Nation’s multi-talented Cipha Sounds who will keep the energy up between bouts. Darian “Big Tigger” Morgan, afternoon host on Atlanta’s V-103, former host of BET’s Rap City and 106 & Park, and currently featured on Oxygen’s “Like A Boss”, will serve as the event’s host.

Tickets priced at $75, $50 and $35, not including applicable service charges and taxes are available at all Ticketmaster locations, online at Ticketmaster.com (http://bit.ly/may13throneboxing ) and charge by phone at (800) 745-3000.

Orlando Del Valle made his professional debut on April 11, 2008 at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey where he knocked out Rey Rivera in the third round. By October 2009, he had compiled a record of 7-0, including a third-round knockout victory over Christopher Rivera at Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico. On June 6, 2011, at Roseland Ballroom in New York City, he notched an impressive ten-round unanimous decision victory over Dat Nguyen in a fight telecast on Showtime’s ShoBox. On September 29, 2012, Del Valle, with a record of 16-0, made is HBO debut at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods Resort in Mashantucket, Connecticut against Three-Time World Champion Vic “The Raging Bull” Darchinyan. Darchinyan controlled a majority of the bout, relying on his experience to pressure the young contender. In the ninth round Del Valle’s perseverance almost carried the day when he staggered Darchinyan with a tremendous left hook, badly hurting the former world champion. Darchinyan, however, was able to survive the round and hold on for a ten-round unanimous decision victory. After the defeat, Del Valle moved to Mexico City to train with Hall of Fame trainer Nacho Beristain. He rebounded in 2013 with two technical knockout victories over Andre Wilson and Juan Jose Beltran. On May 31, 2014, in a bout televised by HBO Latino from the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Del Valle faced another tough opponent in undefeated fellow Puerto Rican Luis Rosa. The ten-round, evenly matched fight went the distance producing a memorable, crowd-pleasing battle. In the fifth round, Del Valle sent Rosa to the canvas with a left hook and in the seventh round Rosa was deducted a point for a late punch, but in the end Rosa was awarded a unanimous decision victory. Since the Rosa setback, Del Valle has won all three of his fights, with none of them going the distance, including his last fight on April 9, in which he scored a second round technical knockout win over Josh Crespo at Rockingham Park in Salem, New Hampshire. Del Valle will look to keep that streak going on May 13 against Snow.

Deeply rooted in D.C. and the capital community, Thomas Snow is an experienced fighter with an impressive record of 18-2 (10 KOs). Snow, who supplements his boxing earnings by working as a floor technician at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, Maryland, began boxing at the age of ten at Round One Gym in Capitol Heights, Maryland, compiling a stellar amateur record of 129-10, which included three Washington D.C. Metro Golden Gloves championships. In 2004, he took home the national PAL amateur tournament title in the 119-pound weight class. On November 5, 2005, he made his professional debut with authority, knocking out Ronald Viera in the first round at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He would go on to win his next nine fights, with seven of those wins coming by way of knockout, before he ran into fellow undefeated prospect and future world title challenger Teon Kennedy who dealt Snow his first professional loss in July of 2008. A streak of six consecutive wins would follow before he suffered another setback, again against an undefeated prospect in Nate Green. Following the defeat, Snow took nearly two and a half years off from boxing. The southpaw returned to the ring on March 6, 2015 and continued to live up to his “KO” moniker with a first round technical knockout win over Christopher Sanchez at the Omar Shrine in Charleston, South Carolina. Snow followed that win with a second round knockout of Tibor Nadori on December 4, 2015 at the Rosecroft Raceway close to home in Fort Washington, Maryland. He now faces a crossroads fight when he takes on Del Valle on May 13.

At the age of nineteen, Darmani Rock is already drawing comparisons to former heavyweight greats of the past. Rock has received high praise for his powerful jab and ambidexterity. Standing at 6’4”, he moves with an unparalleled lightness and speed for a fighter his size. Rock earned nation-wide accolades following a banner year in 2014 when he took home the USA Boxing Junior and Youth Open, Youth Continental and Youth World super heavyweight titles. During the 2014 Junior and Youth Open in Reno, Nevada, Rock shut out the 2013 National Youth Champion, John Luna, 3-0. This impressive performance was followed by another super heavyweight title at the Youth Continental Championships in March 2014 in Quito, Ecuador where he defeated Argentina’s Kervin Espinola, 3-0. Rock then took home the gold medal at the prestigious World Youth Championships in Bulgaria in April 2014 by a 2-1 decision over Germany’s Peter Kadiru. Rock also took home the 2014 World Junior Amateur Championship and capped off 2014 by being named Philadelphia’s Amateur Boxer of the Year at the annual Briscoe Awards. His most noteworthy win, however, came in May 2015 when he beat Cam Awesome, a career amateur who has been called the next Chris Byrd, in Las Vegas for the National Golden Gloves title. Rock also captured the 2015 U.S. National Amateur super heavyweight championship. He ended his amateur career as the number one rated super heavyweight in the United States (and the number five rated super heavyweight in the world) going 19-5 in national tournaments. His assault on the heavyweight division begins May 13 against Black.

Rockville, Maryland resident Carlos Black is better known to capitol region boxing as the “DC Diamond Cutter.” Turning professional late in life at the age of thirty, making his professional debut on April 23, 2015 at Tall Cedar’s Hall in Baltimore, Maryland scoring a four-round unanimous decision over the more experienced Lonnie Kornegay. Black, however, would fall short of victory in his next three bouts to George Arias on May 8, 2015 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, to Dennis Benson by a hard-fought four-round split decision in his return to Tall Cedar’s Hall on July 9, 2015 and to Jerry Forrest on September 26, 2015 at the Masonic Temple in Norfolk, Virginia. Tough like his nickname and propelled by his steadfast will, he believes he can one day fulfill his dream of becoming heavyweight champion of the world. That dream will come a step closer to reality should he defeat the highly touted Rock.

Abner Cotto is part of the famous Cotto boxing family of Puerto Rico. Legendary Miguel Cotto is a second cousin, while uncles Miguel Cotto Sr. and Evangelista Cotto were pro boxers themselves. Cotto is looking for his second straight win following a loss in a world-title elimination bout against current WBA Super Featherweight World Champion Javier Fortuna. On May 13 he faces the vastly experienced Juan Jose Beltran who has faced current World Champion Leo Santa Cruz and former World Champions Eric Morel and Rico Ramos.

Brooklyn’s unbeaten Junior Younan faces his stiffest test to date on May 13 when he faces Austin Marcum. Younan returned following a nine-month injury induced layoff on March 26 on the Andre Ward vs. Sullivan Barrera undercard by pounding out a four-round unanimous decision over Carlos Lozano. Marcum is riding a four-fight winning streak and plans to take his 20-year-old opponent into unfamiliar territory, as Younan has yet to fight past four rounds.

Former Washington Redskin Mike Balogun looks to make it six straight wins since turning professional as a boxer in October of 2014. Balogun was a standout inside linebacker at the University of Oklahoma and spent a year on the Redskins’ roster in 2010. He also played briefly for the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers before retiring and becoming a full time boxer. Looking to stop Balogun’s rise as a pugilist on May 13 will be fellow local fighter Devon Mosley who is seeking his first professional win.

Local favorite Sam Crossed, has limited amateur experience, which his opponent Damion Reed, a 16-fight veteran hopes to exploit. Crossed, who works as bar tender, is expected to have hundreds of supporters behind him as he attempts to go to 3-0. Reed recently lost two hard-fought majority decisions to two cruiserweights and has a draw with Ken Moody.

Standing 6’6” and weighing 250 pounds, Chinese heavyweight sensation Zhang Zhilei has shown boxing skills rarely seen in a big man since turning pro in August 2014. Undefeated in eight fights as a professional, Zhilei was a highly-decorated amateur, winning a silver medal in the super-heavyweight division at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, as well as bronze medals at the 2007 world amateur championships and 2009 AIBA world championships. He faces an opponent to be determined on May 13.

Hernandez-Harrison vs. Dallas Jr., a 10-round welterweight fight which is presented by Roc Nation Sports takes place Friday, May 13, 2016 at the DC Armory in Washington, D.C. This fight headlines a throne boxing event presented by Corona Extra and will be televised live on BET beginning at 10:00 p.m. ET and streamed live on global music and entertainment platform, TIDAL.com. The event is also sponsored by FILA, Corporate Travel Management Solutions (ctms), Glad, Shoe City, Pepsi, RCN and The DC Lottery. In addition to the great action inside the ring, the May 13 edition of throne boxing on BET will feature several notable Roc Nation Sports touches that offer a unique fan experience including a live musical performance by Justine Skye as well as DJ Cipha Sounds and event host Big Tigger who will keep the energy at a high level throughout the event. Follow the conversation using #throneboxing.