29 July,2004 Charleston S.C. Donnell “the real touch of sleep” Holmes and Taurus “the bull” Brewer headlined at The Plex, for a 7 bout card, put on by Mitchell Promotions. The place was packed to the rafters to see the local favorite Brewer and heavyweight prospect Holmes.

Holmes won a KO victory over Mark Miller of Wilson N.C. at :20 sec of the fourth. The bout was dominated by Holmes, but the valiant Miller stood in for the long haul, (at least that was his plan) a relentless body attack took its toll on Miller clearly at the end of the third, he was not able to recuperate in between rounds. Holmes came out in the fourth firing a barrage of hooks to the ribs of Miller, that left him on one knee taking the ten count from referee Harry Hitopolus. Holmes looked stoked at the beginning of the bout coming in at a trim 226. The future looks very bright for Holmes, as he will be off to bigger and better things with his contract with DKP. More

Donnell “The Real Touch of Sleep” Holmes (16-0) fought a hard six rounder against former heavyweight title contender, Thomas Williams (28-20) of Washington D.C. Williams, who was coming off a six month layoff, looked a little sluggish in the first few rounds against the CBA heavyweight champion. Holmes opened up the first round with three jab combos that frustrated Williams to no end. At the end of the round, Williams went back to his corner and was seen breathing heavily. Round two saw Williams get his nose broken halfway through and blood was flying all over ringside. The third round opened up with an accidental head-butt but the semi-closed left eye of Williams was due to the constant overhand rights by Holmes. In round four, Williams seemed to get a small burst of steam midway through, but Holmes finished the round big pummeling Williams into his own corner. The end came at 2:14 of the sixth round with an overhand right that left Williams on the canvas to take the ten-count. To this date, Williams seems to have been Holmes toughest opponent and he fared very well. Holmes stamina and skill has shown through and it is now evident that his trainer, Shelerdine Morgan, has also made the transition from amateur trainer to the pro ranks. More

(April 29, 2004) - Donnell “the real touch of sleep” Holmes scored an impressive knockout, over the very game Cornellis Ellis, in the 6th round at the Plex in Charleston S.C. Holmes looked like a fine tuned sports car, coming out, feeling out his opponent and then, kicking it into high gear. Ellis was no slouch throughout the fight, he scored very clean shots to the body and head that seemed to stun more than hurt Holmes. The first two rounds were just about even then in the third Ellis had a point taken for repeated low blows. Holmes was steady throughout the fourth and fifth and was gaining ground on Ellis, who seemed to be sucking wind. Holmes came out in the sixth looking like a man on a mission. You could actually see the fire in his eyes as he stood from his stool to answer the bell. Ellis was just about out on his feet, Holmes landed a combo right out of the play book, left-right-left, and Ellis was unconscious before his head bounced off of the bottom rope. Holmes moves to 12-0 in his quest to be the next world heavyweight champ. With the backing of Don King productions and his trainer Sheryldine Morgan, Holmes is on the right track. Speaking to him after the fight, he said that he is on target with where he wants to be at this point in his career. He knows that the hard work and dedication will pay off in the future. More

March 27, 2004 - Donnell “the real touch of sleep” Holmes keeps the train moving right along, with a TKO victory over Frankie “a cup” Edmondson, in a heavyweight bout at the Plex in Charleston S.C. Edmondson used every dirty trick in the book to throw off Holmes, but to no avail. Holmes stuck to his game plan, and tried to avoid getting tied up by Edmondson. Referee Harry Hitopolus took points from Edmonson in the first and second rounds for low blows, and was close to taking a point for excessive holding. Holmes finally got tired of the dirty tricks, and fired off a salvo of body shots that made Edmondson’s corner throw in the towel at 2:30 of the third. Holmes moves to 14-0, and is still beaming from signing with DK. His enthusiasm was clearly in high gear, as his plan to become the world heavyweight champ, is his one and only focus!

The co-main feature was Charleston native Torris “The Bull” Brewer versus Osiris Ayise, in a middleweight contest. Ayise got off to a slow start in round one, shaking off a few months of ring rust. Brewer was astute to this fact and let Ayise play into his hand. Reminiscent of Ali himself, Brewer played a little bit of rope-a-dope, to let Ayise punch himself out. Brewer showed great skill, with combinations and uppercuts that scored a knock down at 2:15 of the second. The unanimous decision went to Brewer 40-36, 40-35, and 39-37( I’m still trying to figure that one out). Brewer continues on his quest to becoming the CBA middleweight champion. More

Charleston S.C. (26 Feb 2004) - Donnell “the real touch of sleep” Holmes walked right through Shane “TripleX” Hykes at the Plex in front of a packed house. Holmes who is the current C.B.A. heavyweight champ improved his record to 14-0 after he knocked down Hykes twice in the opening part of the round. The end came at 1:33 of the 1st with a crushing over hand right flush on the side of the face that left Hykes in pile on the canvas. Holmes barley broke a sweat in the ring and got more exercise calling out Calvin Brock and Davaryll Williams. Holmes wants Williams so that he can strip him of his nickname “touch of sleep”, and then on to Brock for a defense of his C.B.A title. Both would be good match ups but In my opinion Brock is the better opponent here. More

            (October 31, 2003 Charleston, SC) Undefeated heavyweight prospect Donnell “The Real Touch of Sleep” Holmes settled for a draw this evening Centre Stage at the Plex with tough Ghanan Mark Doku in a six round war. Holmes dropped Doku with a chopping right in the opening right and spent the rest of the evening laying leather on the smaller foe. Doku, with legs like tree trunks battled throughout, picking his spots to try to land haymakers of his own, gaining crowd support that may have effected the scoring. In the second, Doku caught Holmes with a right that bloodied his nose but by the end of the round Doku’s left eye was closing from the constant barrage of leather he was eating. Although Holmes clearly outpunched the feisty Doku and had the only knockdown, the fight was somehow scored 57-56 Holmes, 57-56 Doku and 56-56 for the draw.  More

(IB-September 26, 2003) - Heavyweight Donnell “The Real Touch of Sleep” Holmes improved to 8-0 in his first headlining appearance with a third round stoppage of Clarence Goins Center Stage at the Plex tonight. Holmes used a chopping right to cut Goins down to size, dropping him three times in the second round and twice in the third before ref Bo Bo Brinson called a stop to the action at 1:37 of the third round. More

(August 25, 2003 Charleston, SC) Matchmaker Bobby Mitchell has pulled another rabbit out of his hat securing former linear and current IBU Heavyweight Champ Shannon Briggs to headline this Thursday's card Center Stage at the Plex. Briggs, who would like nothing better than to be at the top of Mike Tyson's opponent list, squares off against Wade "Rock" Lewis (12-6). Lewis has faced some stiff competition in Andre Purlette, Audley Harrison and Dominick Guinn. Rising heavyweight prospect Donnell "The Real Touch of Sleep" Holmes faces Phil Wills. The polished and relaxed Holmes destroyed "King" David Ward last month at the Plex, dropping him with overhand rights in the first and second round. "Donnell has all the tools to make some noise in the division since Lennox Lewis is pondering retirement" Bobby Mitchell stated. "He's got young legs and a great work ethic. I urge the fans to come and watch him develop at the Plex because he will be a TV fighter by the end of the year." Paul "The Italian Hitman" Marinaccio meets Mark Doku. In the cruiser division Eric Starr meets John Battle. Heavy handed middleweight Chris Troup faces Lamont Crawford. Local favorites Justin Mays and Travis Clybourn also are appearing on the card. The Plex is one of the top club sized venues in the nation without a bad seat in the house. For tickets call 843-225-7539. [End]

By “KO” Ken Caro

CHARLESTON, S.C. (IB-July 31, 2003) - Middleweight sensation “lightening” Les Ralston (13-0) and heavyweight prospect Donnell “The real touch of sleep” Holmes (that’s right Mr. Willliams he will fight you for the name) headlined at the Plex in Charleston S.C., a 7 bout card was on tap for the growing fight crowd in Charleston.

Ralston dominated the durable Robert Muhammed of Tampa Florida and won the bout on all three judges cards by a score of 60-54. The score did not reflect the constant forward motion of Muhammed that kept the pressure on Ralston the entire bout. But Ralston showed what skill he had by peppering him with right upper-cuts and left crosses from the outside and when Muhammed dared to hold Ralston he made him pay for it dearly with body shots and right crosses to the head. Ralston keeps moving through the middleweight division dispatching all who face him; I dare say I am watching the next middleweight champ!  More

By Jack Purcell
(July 28, 2003 Charleston, SC) Rising Middleweight "Lightning" Les Ralston (12-0) and Heavyweight Donnell "The Real Touch of Sleep" Holmes (6-0) headline this Thursday's edition of professional boxing Center Stage at the Plex in North Charleston.
Ralston, a former amateur standout, will also be fighting on the non-televised undercard of Joe Mesi's September HBO date in his hometown of Buffalo, New York. His father and trainer former light heavyweight contender Jimmy Ralston, trained Mesi as a amateur so this pairing is natural for the fight fans of Buffalo who have yet to see Ralston in action. Ralston will face durable Robert Muhammad at the Plex.
Holmes, who also had an impressive amateur career, squares off with Bill Wells. His goal is to reclaim his nickname "Touch of Sleep" for his own. While he was in the amateurs, Davarryl Williamson started to use the moniker that was already tattooed on Holmes but they never got the chance to meet to settle the score. "Davarryl is a little more advanced in the pro's then I am at this time but somewhere down the line I'd like to face him and show the world who "The Real Touch of Sleep" is" Holmes stated.
In other action, Najie Turpin faces Mike Lavender, Justin Mays goes up against Leon Hinnant, John Butler meets Richard Barnes and Travis Clybourne squares off with Terry Cannon. For tickets call 843/225-PLEX. [End]

(June 27, 2003 Charleston, South Carolina) Hot middleweight prospect "Lightnin" Les Ralston dominated Yusef "Rastaman" Robinson dropping him twice en route to a TKO at 2:16 of the third round. Razor sharp from sparring with Syd Vanderpool, Ralston attacked the body and showed pinpoint control with his crisp jab, toying with Robinson, whose corner wisely threw in the towel after the second knockdown. The Buffalo native improves to 12-0 and is starting to generate some serious interest from major promoters. A textbook old school boxer with increasing power in both hands, this kid is on his way to becoming a TV mainstay.  More

CHARLESTON, S.C. (May 29, 2003) -Light Heavyweight David Telesco won by TKO over Robert Muhammed of Tampa Fla. The fight was stopped at 2:49 of the second round when Muhammed’s corner man jumped on to the canvas and threw in the towel to stop the fight. Telesco hammered Muhammed relentlessly in the first round. Muhammed was moving forward in Joe Fraiser style but could not keep up the pace. Muhammed did not want to stop but his corner just could not let him take any more punishment. More

(April 25, 2003, Charleston, SC) Oliver McCall rocked Center Stage at the Plex and the world of Dennis McKinney, dropping him five times en route to a TKO at 1:35 of round three. Shaking off sixteen months of ring rust, McCall displayed his vaunted power with each hand early and often against the determined McKinney in front of a packed house with that "big fight buzz". McCall patiently stalked the smaller McKinney in the opening round and dropped him with a left hook, straight right combination with about thirty seconds left. When McKinney sprung right up, the crowd went wild, but things would change rapidly for McKinney. More