Darnell Boone Upsets Another Top Prospect Before Making a Title Run at 160 lbs
By Travis Fleming
This past Saturday, boxing’s most underrated fighter, Darnell Boone, 21-21-4 10 KO’s, has once again destroyed a much bigger, and heavily favored prospect! Phillip Jackson Benson, 15-1-0 14 KO’s, was supposed to use Darnell Boone to get in some much needed rounds, some name recognition, and as stepping stone to the next level. Unfortunately for Benson, he made the same mistake that light heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson did a few years earlier in choosing Boone, then suffering his first knockout loss as a heavily favored future star.
The Valley Forge Casino and Resort in Pennsylvania played host to the 8 round light heavyweight battle between Boone and Benson, who stands four inches taller at 6’1″. The knockout artist, Benson, was leading the fight and raining down powerful blows on Boone until round six when Boone threw away a jab to divert Benson’s attention and followed with a sneaky right hand that dropped Benson hard, coincidentally the same punch Boone scored a knockout win with in his previous bout against Dionisio Miranda. Benson struggled to his feet and fell backwards, prompting the referee to wave off the fight and award Boone a sixth round TKO win. After the bout, Boone claimed he had been working hard in the gym on that very same punch and he has now perfected it. This is also the same punch Boone knocked out Adonis Stevenson with. In my interview with Boone last month, when asked about the challenge of facing another bright prospect, with a significant size advantage and an impressive record of 15-1 with 14 big knockouts, he said “It’s nothing strenuous for me; I’ve fought the best guys in the game, so it’s the same bull, different rodeo. I see it as me doing my best, as I always do”. He certainly stayed true to his word in scoring another massive upset as boxing’s new miracle man.
Boone has the most deceiving record in boxing. His .500 record includes many losses in robberies by biased judges against fighters with big time promoters and backing. He has been thrown into fights with elite fighters, who were much bigger than he is, on short notice and he has never been given the chance to train full time. In our recent interview, Boone mentioned that he had finally linked up with a promoter who has his best interests at heart and that after the Benson fight (which was already scheduled) he would be campaigning at middleweight. He will finally be fighting guys his own size, and as the A side where he will not be the constant victim of biased judging in fights he deserved to win. I truly believe that given a fair shake against men his own size, Boone has what it takes to become a champion at 160 lbs before he hangs up his gloves.
Boone is 35 years old and has been a pro for 11 years. He has been a stern test for elite fighters; he has beaten one, and deserved to beat another. He knocked down one of the top pound for pound fighters in the world in Andre Ward and knocked out light heavyweight king Adonis Stevenson. He deserved to beat one of boxing’s best, and most heavy handed fighters in Sergey Kovalev but lost a split decision. He went the distance with Jean Pascal, and beat Gennady Golovkin’s upcoming opponent Willie Monroe, JR. Other top tier fighters he’s faced include; going the distance with Erislandy Lara, a draw with Walid Smichet, a close loss to Enrique Ornelas, a draw with Lajuan Simon, and a split decision loss to Fernando Zuniga. Boone has also gone the distance with huge punching Curtis Stevens, had a close fight with Bryan Vera, went the distance with Brandon Gonzalez, and he knocked out Dionisio Miranda. He also heard the final bell against Edwin Rodriguez, and he deserved to beat Craig McEwen but lost a split decision. In all of these fights, Boone was at every disadvantage conceivable. Many of these men are naturally much bigger and Boone fought them without an adequate amount of time to train properly. Boone should be given a medal; instead he’s labeled a journeyman opponent when he’s way too good to be one.
