Jermaine Woods

Raynon Blackshire (born August 20, 1975), better known as Jermaine Woods, is a Heavyweight boxer from Phoenix, Arizona, who has been described by many writers, including The Arizona Republic sports beat writers, as "the next Mike Tyson". Woods trains at the same gym where other notables, such as Floyd Mayweather Jr., Hector Camacho Jr., James Page, Roberto Garcia and Tyson himself have trained at.

Woods began his professional career after failing to qualify for the United States Olympic boxing team that fought in Atlanta, Georgia. On May 17, 1996, he beat Joaquin Felix by a four round unanimous decision at the 35th. ave Park and Swap, a popular shopping place among local shoppers in Phoenix.

His second professional fight was his first professional fight outside Phoenix: On February 1, 1997, he knocked out Gene Jones in the first round at Chula Vista, California.

His next two bouts, however, would have outcomes that were difficult for Woods to get over from: twenty one days after beating Jones, he faced Alex Desir in Hollywood, and he was held to a draw. He then met the highly regarded Cedric Boswell, who defeated Woods by a four round decision on April 18 at the Hilton hotel in Las Vegas.

Woods got away from boxing after the fights against Desir and Boswell. In 2000, however, he made a comeback, beginning with a victory by a four round decision over Thomas Allen, exactly three years to the day that he lost to Boswell. This fight took place at another popular Arizona hangout place, the Midnight Rodeo club. He beat Steve Allen on September 12 by a six round decision, and then, Woods took yet another four year hiatus.

On July 30, 2004, he returned for the second time, knocking out Gilmore Pastrana, at the newly built Glendale Arena (home of the Phoenix Coyotes) in Glendale. On September 28, he returned to the Midnight Rodeo club, where he defeated Benjamin Garcia by a knockout in round six.

On October 15, he fought for the first time in Tucson, where he beat Salvador Farnecci by a knockout in three rounds. It was these three consecutive knockouts that caught the eyes of Phoenix scribes and made him a local heavyweight hero. However, on January 7, 2005 he lost by way of knockout in the third round to Andrew Greeley, a fighter who had lost in his last 7 outings. Woods is considered a "journeyman" fighter, or one who "journeys" to different lands often on short notice to provide easy competition to rising prospects and fading stars or just to simply fill out the card for the evening's showcase.

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