Nelson, Harrison Receive National Acclaim!

A number of well-known boxing sites are taking strong looks at a couple of our Beltway Boxers and giving them the same type of acclaim that they have received here.

The best site for coverage of women's boxing -- The Women's Boxing Archive Network (WBAN) --  honored Beltway Boxing Co-Boxer of the Year Tori "Sho Nuff" Nelson with two awards.  Nelson was named as one of the Inspirational Boxers Of The Year.  Nelson is a three-time, two division champion and she was honored for accomplishing this feat while being a single mother and working three jobs.

By the way, Nelson was in great company in this selection as she shares this with amateur boxer Sulem Urbina Soto, the sister of boxer Alexis Urbina who was murdered by an intruder during a home invasion in 2013.  Six-time world champion Layla McCarter was also honored for her work in getting the state of Nevada to allow women to fight 12-round, three minute championship bouts in that state.

Nelson was also named one of the Road Warriors of the Year for traveling to Bermuda and Rhode Island for two of her three title contests in 2013. Nelson joined boxers Ava Knight and Alicia Ashley in earning that honor.

My colleague, Sue TL Fox, a legendary boxer who Ring Magazine named as one of the 10 Most Influential Female Boxers of All Time, has administrated WBAN since 1998 and continues to do an outstanding job with the site.  Sue and I have shared information many times over the years and I love the passion that she has for this business.  The link to her 2013 awards is here: http://womenboxing.com/awards2013.htm 

The link to Tori Nelson's video/photo gallery is here:  http://www.wbanmedia.com/MASTERGALLERIES/gallery556.html

Meanwhile, 2013 Beltway Boxing Prospect of the Year Dusty Hernandez Harrison was listed among ESPN.com's "Super 20" Prospects of the Year.  ESPN's Dan Rafael honored Harrison for his busy work in 2013, going 8-0 against varied competition and getting great exposure on two Gennaday Golovkin undercards.

Harrison was in great company on this list as he shares space with the likes of Bryant Jennings, Errol Spence, Jermell and Jermall Charlo and Deontay Wilder among others.

Vasyl Lomachenko, despite having only one pro bout, was named ESPN.com's Prospect of the Year.  Lomanchenko is slated to challenge Orlando Salido for the WBO Featherweight title in March with the winner slated to face WBO Number One contender Gary Russell, Jr.   The entire list can be found here: http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/10224263/vasyl-lomachenko

This honor adds to a number of other accolades Harrison has received in 2013.  Along with the selection on this blog, Harrison has been named Prospect of the Year by three other boxing sites -- Round by Round Boxing, Standing Eight Count and Boxing Pulse. Our colleagues at Stiff Jab.com gave Harrison this honor in in 2012.

By the way, congratulations to Dan Rafael for being the recipient of the 2013 Nat Fleischer Award by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) for "excellence in boxing journalism."  Rafael, who still makes his home in the Beltway region, has been covering boxing on a national level since 2000 -- first at USA Today, then at ESPN.com where he has been since 2005.  The award is named after the founder of both Ring Magazine and the BWAA.