The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

SINCE signing him to a three-year contract, Todd Rouse said his TKO Promotions Company has been slowly moving light heavyweight Ryan ‘Big Youth’ McKenzie up the ladder in the professional ranks.

Rouse said when Tony Graziano met McKenzie a couple years ago while he was vacationing in the Bahamas, he promised to invite him to visit the United States with the view of continuing his career. McKenzie has been managed by Graziano since the beginning of the year in Canastota, New York, the home of the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

And as they say, the rest is history.

McKenzie, who turned pro with a second round TKO win over Alex Fox on July 28, 2006 at the Radisson Cable Beach Resort, has had two successful showings at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino in Verona, New York. His latest feat came on Saturday night when he stopped Borngod Washington in the sixth round. That followed his first outing on January 28 when he won a second round TKO over Richard Stanino.

“He is a great prospect for the future,” Rouse said. “From a physical stand point, he’s in great condition. He’s just now getting the exposure to fighting in the US. His career is really starting to take off as far as fighting with other opponents. He’s had two fights so far and he’s showing great promise.”

Those two fights have pushed McKenzie’s record to 10-0, all via the stoppage either with a TKO or KO.

“We will continue with three or four, what I call local type fights, meaning we will give him some more exposure,” Rouse said. “He’s had a couple of six round fights, but we will certainly move him up to eight and ultimately 10 rounds, letting him have some good opponents, certainly not the ranked opponents at this point.

“We want him to continue to work on his skills and get used to fighting in the US and at that point, we will take a shot at getting a ranked opponent and hopefully he can continue on being one of the top fighters to watch in the world.”

McKenzie, according to Rouse, should be back in the ring on September 23, but no details have been finalised as yet in terms of an opponent. If possible, Rouse said they will try to shoot for another four fights for McKenzie before the year is done.

“That may be a little aggressive, but ideally that is what we’re shooting for,” he said.

Against Washington, who dropped to 3-11, Rouse said McKenzie took on a competitor who fought just about all of the top fighters in the New York area, so it was a good measuring stick.

“Obviously Ryan knocked him out in the sixth round, but that is the type of experience that we want Ryan to get,” Rouse said. “He’s going to get into the ring against some guys that are good opponents, but will actually let him get some more experience in the ring.”

The way McKenzie is progressing, Rouse said he’s confident that he will be a force to reckon with in the future.

McKenzie, who was unavailable for comments, has joined Taureano ‘Reno’ Johnson in making the transition from fighting here to the US. Johnson, who also fought and won his middleweight bout on Saturday’s card, is now 11-0. The other Bahamian making it big in the US is heavyweight Sherman ‘The Tank’ Williams from Grand Bahama.

Freeman ‘The Natural’ Barr, a native of Andros, was fighting out of the SJC Boxing Club in Naples, Florida. But the light heavyweight contender hasn’t fought since August 31 when he pulled off his fourth consecutive victory with a sixth round decision over Dion Stanley at the Charlotte Harbor Center in Punta Gorda, Florida.