Two years ago, Sam Hampton, then a bouncer in a Virginia Beach, Va., bar, gained a small measure of fame by shattering the jaw of former Oriole Glenn Davis in a pool-room altercation.
But last night at Teamsters Hall, Hampton, a full-blooded Choctaw Indian, proved he was a legitimate professional fighter, stopping Baltimore heavyweight Mike Whitfield at 2:50 of the first round of their scheduled eight-round main event.
"Boxing is much more respectable," said Hampton (6-2-2), who turned pro after winning a "Toughman" competition in Tulsa, Okla. "That [Davis] incident is strictly in the past."
A crowd of 600 turned out for promoter Tank Hill's first show. It almost didn't happen, when several canceled bouts left Hill with less than the minimum of 26 rounds of boxing. But a four-rounder was added late yesterday to satisfy the Maryland Athletic Commission.
Aggressive Baltimore light-heavyweight Courtney Butler (8-1-1) used James Thomas, of Wilson, N.C., as a punching bag for more than three rounds before referee Larry Barrett stopped the lopsided bout at 1:04 of the fourth round.
Baltimore middleweight Kenny Blackston (3-2) swarmed all over Philadelphia's Troy Fredrickson (0-2) and needed only 2:47 to win the fight. Blackston staggered Fredrickson early with a looping right and continued to pummel him when referee Ken Chevalier intervened. Local middleweights Kevin Johnson (2-1), of Loch Raven, and Roger Womack, making his pro debut out of Mack Lewis's Baltimore gym, fought toe-to-toe for four rounds. But Johnson floored Womack in the third round and earned a 38-37 edge on all three officials' cards.
Landover cruiserweight Arnold Fountain (1-3-1) scored his first victory in five fights by out-pointing Courtney Bridget (2-1), of Baltimore, in a four-rounder.