When Jerome Featherstone Jr. entered the Baltimore Boxing and Fitness Gym for the first time in January 2012, promoter and gym owner Jake Smith figured he had another athlete with a brief fascination of the sweet science.
An elite wrestler at the prestigious Boys Latin High School in Maryland and the University of Oklahoma, Smith assumed Featherstone Jr. would spend a few weeks in the gym before calling it quits; something he calls the norm.
“I’ve had so many athletes that starred in other sports come into my gym to give boxing a shot only to realize it wasn’t for them,” said Smith, a member of both the Maryland and D.C. Boxing Hall of Fames. “I expected Jerome would be one of those guys who thought boxing would be a breeze because he excelled in another sport, before he got a rude awakening.”
Smith was surprisingly wrong.
Featherstone Jr. proved to be a natural from the moment he laced up a pair of gloves, displaying speed, power and footwork of a ring veteran. According to Smith, Featherstone Jr’s god-given ability, all-around discipline and eagerness to learn are unlike anything he’s seen.
“I’ve been around all of the world champions and top contenders from this area during the last 30 years. Jerome tops all of them at this stage. There are a lot of boxers who’ve been doing this their entire life and had tons of amateur fights that never displayed the kind of potential he has. If Jerome continue to progress, I guarantee you’ll all know who he is in the near future.”
In addition to the Featherstone-Vann match-up, there will be 11 Olympic Style bouts featuring each squad’s top talent. Thus far, Team Baltimore is 3-0 in competitions, defeating a team from the Naval Academy and twice besting a squad from Pittsburgh.
All bouts are sanctioned by USA Boxing.
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