Postcript From Saturday Night At the Armory!

Just decided to put down some thoughts from last night at the DC Armory.

Simply put, it was an amazing night. The crowd was, at many times, electric, especially during the main event. The attendance of 6,823 was as large of a number as I have seen since the Lamont Peterson-Amir Khan championship bout that drew 8,647 to the Washington Convention Center in December of 2011.

The DC Boxing and Wrestling Commission deserves a heap of praise for their handling of the event. Their referees throughout the night -- Kenny Chevalier (who refereed the Quillin-Konecny title bout), Sharon Sands, Dr. Joe Cooper, Mark D'Antillo and David Braslow did an outstanding job.

Any of the local judges -- Tammye Jenkins, Wayne Smith, Paul Wallace, Manuel Vincens and Steve Rados (who was a judge for Quillin-Konecny) -- can replace Gustavo Padilla right now!

Everyone involved with the DC Commission was exceptional and proved to the boxing world that DC is ready for a big step further into the mainstream of the boxing world.

I've never agreed when people say "boxing is back in DC." Boxing never went away from DC. It's always been here. What was proven Saturday night that we can handle the big challenges of a major boxing night and I really do believe great bouts are coming our way in the not too distant future!

Bear with me for one more personal postscript: For those who don't know, there is a pecking order in press row. The first row of seats are usually for deadline media and the bigger media outlets. All other rows are for fringe media and boxing websites. Last night, I (representing Fightnews.com primarily and Boxing Along the Beltway secondarily) was on the front row alongside the likes of The Washington Post, The Washington Times, The Ring and ESPN.com. It was a true honor to sit among those that I have admired and respected for so long like Lem Satterfield, Dan Rafael, Thom Loverro, Gene Wang and Kieran Mulvaney! I'd like to think it is a testament to the years I've put in covering this great sport in this great part of the country. It was very humbling!

Once again, DC can feel very proud of itself as it may have, indeed, turned the corner to being a great fight town.  There is talk of another big show coming to the Nation's Capitol sometime this summer. With the number of great young boxers we have in this area, it may truly be just a matter of time!