Knockouts

When Jake Smith first saw former wrestler Jerome Featherstone Jr. working out six months ago at the Baltimore Boxing Club, the veteran trainer and promoter spotted his talent immediately. "The way he trained was unbelievable," Smith said. "I saw him and I was like, 'Holy hell, this kid's got something.'" The two began working together, and three months ago Featherstone won his debut amateur fight. In his second bout, on the March 23 "Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh" card at Michael's Eighth Avenue in Glen Burnie, the Boys' Latin alumnus won the East Coast Championship middleweight belt, nearly scoring a third-round knockout.

Night 2 of the Knockout Rounds brought more entertainment and heartbreak for the contestants. It was time for Team Blake and Team Usher to make it through the Knockout Rounds, and move on to next week's live playoffs. With Adam's angels and Shakira's all-star team already assembled, it was time for them to watch as coaches Blake and Usher's teams battled it out. Team Blake: Savannah Berry, “As Long as You Love Me” by Justin Bieber vs. Justin Rivers, “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus Country-pop was the sound for this competition as Savannah and Justin opened the competition with two major pop hits.

Everyone's heard about boxing's ugly side. Now, meet its "Raging Beauty." That's the calling card of female boxer Israh Girgrah, who will try again at the Wyndham Baltimore Inner Harbor hotel tonight to demonstrate that she has the knockout power to match her knockout looks. The holder of three world boxing titles will carry an 18-2-3 record with nine knockouts into the ring in putting her Universal Boxing Association lightweight (135 pounds) title on the line against Tracy "The Lady" Byrd (12-4, four KOs)

Vice President Joe Biden was stronger in Thursday's debate than challenger Rep. Paul Ryan, but the matchup didn't produce the kind of clear winner that the debate between President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney did. Joe Biden was Joe Biden - garrulous and heartfelt, yet unabashedly aggressive in defending the administration and attacking the opposition. Paul Ryan was Paul Ryan - wonkish, earnest and controlled. Mr. Biden largely dominated the exchange in a way that will appeal to some and may turn off others.

Local boxer Mike Paschall will fight undefeated 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Andre Dirrell on Aug. 2 on Showtime. The fight, on the undercard of the Dimitri Kirilov vs. Vic Darchinyan International Boxing Federation junior-bantamweight championship fight, is expected to air about 9:05 p.m. The super-middleweight (168 pounds) fight will take place in Tacoma, Wash. Paschall, who was born in West Baltimore and resides in Pasadena, is 17-0-1 with five knockouts. Dirrell is 15-0 with 10 knockouts.

Light heavyweight Berry Butler (21-12, 18 knockouts) of Greenville, S.C., defeated Baltimore's Cory Cummings (15-1, 12 KOs) by split decision in last night's 10-round main event at Martin's West in Woodlawn. Baltimore middleweight Jessie Nicklow (6-0, three knockouts) won a fourth-round technical decision against James Shedrick (4-6, four KOs) of Philadelphia after an accidental head butt left Shedrick cut above his right eye. The earlier scheduled bout between Baltimore amateur light heavyweight Franchon Crews (20-2)

LEDYARD, Conn. -- Charles Brewer, who had let the thought of retirement creep into his psyche, drove it right back out last night.Rebounding from two losses in a row, Brewer knocked out Terry Seay in the second round of a scheduled eight-round middleweight bout at the Foxwood Casino.Referee Steve Smoger stopped the bout 33 seconds into the second round, with Seay flat on the canvas, grabbing his side after a brutal left hook to the ribs.Brewer, of Philadelphia, raised his record to 23-4, with 17 knockouts, while Seay, of Hartford, dropped to 7-6, with seven knockouts.

Tom Zbikowski didn't record the expected knockout, but the Ravens safety showed something he had already proved on the football field — his toughness. Zbikowski delivered several brutal punches and absorbed some as well, standing his ground for a unanimous win over a bloodied-face Caleb "True Grit" Grummet at a sold-out Boardwalk Hall Saturday night. In a bout billed as "MMA vs. NFL," the man known as "Tommy Z" in boxing improved to 3-0 in his professional career after all three judges scored in his favor (39-36, 39-36 and 38-37)

Former undisputed heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman - just two weeks after his fourth-round knockout of Australia's Kali Meehan - said yesterday that he plans to accept an invitation to replace the injured Riddick Bowe in tomorrow night's 10-rounder against journeyman Kenny Craven at the Louisville Gardens in Louisville, Ky. Rahman (40-5-1, 33 knockouts) said that his replacing Bowe (41-1, 33 knockouts) was "contingent on the approval of his promoter, Don King," which the fighter said he expected to receive.

ROCKVILLE -- Phil Gilberti knocked out Elkton's Jerry Rash 2 minutes, 13 seconds into the first round to decide the Maryland cruiserweight championship at the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza last night.The victory by Gilberti (12-5, 12 knockouts) avenged a fourth-round knockout loss to Rash (7-5-1) in April.On the under card, Baltimore's Eddie Van Kirk (22-6) was knocked down in the first round but rallied to score a unanimous decision over Kato Wilson (12-12-2) of the Bronx, N.Y.

It's getting down to the wire, my friends. Five chefs remain: Lorena, Chris, Patricia, Takashi, and Kerry. This week the Quickfire challenge is all about prep (my favorite kind!). Each chef must separate 18 eggs, grate two pounds of parmesan, and butcher a beef tenderloin into five filets. The first two chefs to finish and pass have to use their properly prepped ingredients in a dish. The remaining three chefs will judge. I love this challenge. I love all prep challenges. With these Masters, it's especially entertaining, as these guys probably haven't had to do mise en place in a long, long time.

INDIO, Calif. — If boxing can figure out where it left its torch before the whole house goes down, Gary Russell Jr. again showed he might have the hands to hold it. The 24-year-old featherweight from Washington D.C. had too many hands for Christopher Perez at Fantasy Springs Casino over the weekend, decking him four times and stopping him at 1:41 of the third round. That makes Russell 20-0 with 12 knockouts. So what? Twenty-and-oh is the shallow end of the pool. But if all the cards get played correctly, this kid has the blurry hand speed, the savvy, the quickness and the sly charm to give boxing the lifeline it doesn't deserve.

When Jake Smith first saw former wrestler Jerome Featherstone Jr. working out six months ago at the Baltimore Boxing Club, the veteran trainer and promoter spotted his talent immediately. "The way he trained was unbelievable," Smith said. "I saw him and I was like, 'Holy hell, this kid's got something.'" The two began working together, and three months ago Featherstone won his debut amateur fight. In his second bout, on the March 23 "Baltimore vs. Pittsburgh" card at Michael's Eighth Avenue in Glen Burnie, the Boys' Latin alumnus won the East Coast Championship middleweight belt, nearly scoring a third-round knockout.

The new Baltimore Bartenders Guild issues no seals of approval. It simply demands that prospective members give a damn about the ingredients and ingenuity of their cocktails. Since profiling the guild last month, I've been checking out members who are new to Baltimore, such as Adrian Ross-Boon of Wit & Wisdom. The results so far — including my most recent excursion to check out Tim Riley's work at Ten Ten — are proving that the guild's ethos is promoting effort, individuality and a desire to surprise customers with something they won't find at just any bar. The bar at the relatively new Harbor East bistro is considered, looks good and has knock-out cocktails.

I am off for a few days to deal with some minor medical stuff, and I did not intend to write any reviews, believe me. But I sat down last night to watch one segment of the preview DVD for  "Kennedy Center Honors," and I got up some two hours later feeling like I had been on a wild, joyous, pop culture rollercoaster ride. And I wanted to at least give readers of this a blog a heads-up to catch this brilliant production at 9 tonight on CBS (WJZ-Channel 13). As usually happens, and as I annually forget, the segments on the honorees that I don't care so much about are the ones that blow me away -- and make me want to run out and buy their DVD or get a Netflix of one of their greatest movies.

Ravens safety Tom Zbikowski improved to 4-0 in his professional boxing career with a first-round technical knockout of Blake Warner on Saturday night. Zbikowski landed an uppercut at the 2:20 mark and the fight was called after Warner dropped to the canvas. “This was my best win since coming back from a five-year layoff,” he told The Daily Oklahoman . Here's video of the fight (and audio if you speak Spanish):

Andrew Maynard, the former Olympic champion who knows all about lefts and rights, will find out how far he has progressed toward becoming a patient fighter when he takes on veteran Robert Curry at Painters Mill tonight.The eight-bout card gets under way at 8 p.m. with Maynard and Curry slated for 10 rounds and unbeaten Willie Gallowango (14-0) meeting Mark Buchanon (10-2) in a co-featured eight-rounder.Maynard, now living in Laurel, buzzed through his first dozen fights as a pro after earning his gold medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.

The International Boxing Federation has confirmed Baltimore heavyweight Hasim Rahman as its No. 6 contender and has sanctioned his HBO-televised, 12-round fight against No. 5 Danell Nicholson on Oct. 7 as an elimination bout for its No. 1 ranking. Rahman's co-manager, Steven Nelson, also confirmed the site of the bout as The Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Conn. Rahman (34-2, 28 knockouts) said yesterday he will relinquish the World Boxing Council belt, which he won by knocking out South African southpaw Corrie Sanders earlier this year.