When you think of Garry Jonas’ company, ProBoxTV, often you think of evenly contested great fights. No wonder why one of the hidden American gems of the 2020 amateur boxing circuit, Demontaze “Juicy” Duncan will be opening the card on Wednesday, March 22nd, on ProBoxTV.com, as he faces fellow unbeaten fighter Axl Melendez, as both fighters will be putting their undefeated records on the line, and Duncan looks to repeat his amateur success as a pro.
Duncan, the 20-year-old phenom noted for his aggression and power, will be fighting on a major boxing telecast for the first time in his career. Duncan came up from obscurity with Nicholas Bareis, his coach, who later become Duncan’s legal guardian. The duo went from a rather unknown fighter and trainer tandem at the time, to seeing Duncan become the #1 welterweight in USA Boxing’s program at one time. Duncan believes he will do the same thing this year in the pros.
Duncan bypassed the Olympics, though no reason was given, though I am sure the relative obscurity of the Olympics in the public eye doesn't help. Once a centerpiece of the telecasts of the Olympic Games, boxing is now on apps, and hard to find - making young fighters who are tempted to go pro, simply do just that rather than wait out the Olympic process.
“We took a hard look at his chances of fighting in the Olympics and where we thought he would be better off as a professional since his style is more suited for the pros,” said Nicholas Bareis, Duncan’s longtime trainer. "We made the decision to turn him professional because he will be around 15-0 when the Olympics get here in 2024, and the goal was to always bring world-championship boxing back to Louisville, Kentucky.”
Duncan has won all eight of his fights by way of knockout and his last one, an impressive win stopping Tyrone Crawley Jr., a seasoned veteran. Duncan now looks to build up some momentum and try to be a break-out star in 2023 as his team has opted to go independently to build his career at the start. Not unlike fighters such as Devin Haney, and Ashton Sylve, Duncan is looking to build his career from the ground up, on his own terms.
“I’m proud of Demontaze and all of his accomplishments. This fight on Wednesday night will be a big test for him. He is prepared and ready to fight,” said Bareis. “ProBoxTV is a great platform for Demontaze because their fans want to see smoke and we all know Juicy is gonna bring the smoke”.