McCowen gets draw in 1st fight
Davonte McCowen didn’t win his professional boxing debut. The Valley fighter may have won something even bigger:
The crowd. McCowen and fellow 25-year-old lightweight fighter Chris Crawley of the Ukraine went at it for four rounds last Friday night at the Doubletree Ontario in a wildly entertaining bout.
Two judges scored it a draw, and the third had Crawley ahead by one point in what was his professional debut, too.
That’s when the boos cascaded from the Doubletree Ontario ballroom ceiling.
And kept on cascading. Just before the end of the fourth and final round, D-Mac delivered his best blow of the night, a hook flush to the jaw that buckled Crawley’s knees.
Only the bell saved the Ukrainian.
“I’ve been around Ukrainian fighters my whole career,” said Donald Dinkins, McCowen’s irrepressible 76-year-old manager and trainer. “They’re as tough as they come. So I am so proud of D-Mac to hold his own the way he did.”
Last Friday marked just the sixth bout of any kind for McCowen, who weighed in at 131 pounds. Crawley
was in his 31st career fight.
When Team D-Mac headed over to the Denny’s in Ontario for a midnight stack before the ride home, the boos turned to cheers.
“There were a lot of people there who attended the fight, and they recognized Davonte,” Dinkins said. “They were telling him they thought he was robbed, they thought he won the fight, and they asked if they could take pictures with him.
“I know that made D-Mac feel good.”
The Boxing Don, as Dinkins is known in fight circles, knows how this fight game works.
The promoters in Ontario knew Crawley well.They figured they matched him with a tomato can.
Instead, when the bell rang, it was more a case of tomato pasting.
“You know, they were impressed with Davonte,” Dinkins said. “They want to set him up with another fight at the Doubletree Ontario.
“But we don’t want to fight out of Ontario. (The Valley) is D-Mac’s hometown. We want him fighting right here in Lancaster and Palmdale.”
If that sounds like they just handed Hervi Estrada the fourth judge’s card, it should.
The fight promoter from Palmdale has already been instrumental in bringing FOX Sports 1’s Premier Boxing Champions to the Pioneer Events Center on a regular basis.
Hervi is becoming a rising star, a growing force in the fight game. McCowen trains at his gym.
For now, D-Mac is enjoying some richly deserved R&R.
The Boxing Don is headed back to Philadelphia for his mother’s 100th birthday.
He may have an early present for her 101st.