“All of us at Roc Nation Sports are thrilled to have added Darmani Rock to our boxing family. He has the talent to become a force in a reinvigorated heavyweight division and for a 19-year-old heavyweight with his skill set, the sky is the limit.” – David Itskowitch, COO of Boxing Roc Nation Sports
https://twitter.com/RocNation/status/699617526913835008
https://twitter.com/Darmani_rock/status/699616834690093056
BOXER: DARMANI ROCK
NICKNAME: ROCK SOLID
DIVISION: HEAVYWEIGHT
AGE: 19
DATE OF BIRTH: APRIL 17, 1996
HEIGHT: 6’5”
STANCE: ORTHODOX
BORN: PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
LIVES: PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA
RECORD: PRO DEBUT
At the age of nineteen, Darmani Rock is already drawing comparisons to former heavyweight greats of the past. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Rock was brought to a local boxing ring by his father at age twelve after he lost a street fight to neighborhood bullies. Rock cites his father, Wayne “Wiz” McLeod, as his greatest inspiration.
Rock has received high praise for his powerful jab and ambidexterity. Standing at 6’4”, he moves with an unparalleled lightness and speed for a fighter his size. Rock earned nation-wide accolades following a banner year in 2014 when he took home the USA Boxing Junior and Youth Open, Youth Continental and Youth World super heavyweight titles.
During the 2014 Junior and Youth Open in Reno, Nevada, Rock shut out the 2013 National Youth Champion, John Luna, 3-0. This impressive performance was followed by another super heavyweight title at the Youth Continental Championships in March 2014 in Quito, Ecuador where he defeated Argentina’s Kervin Espinola 3-0. Rock then took home the gold medal at the prestigious World Youth Championships in Bulgaria in April 2014 by a 2-1 decision over Germany’s Peter Kadiru. Rock also took home the 2014 World Junior Amateur Championship and capped off 2014 by being named Philadelphia’s Amateur Boxer of the Year at the annual Briscoe Awards. His most noteworthy win, however, came in May 2015 when he beat Cam Awesome, a career amateur who has been called the next Chris Byrd, in Las Vegas for the National Golden Gloves title. Awesome, who touts a near-perfect record over the past eight years and three Golden Gloves titles of his own, is considered one of the toughest amateur boxers to beat in a three round bout. Rock also captured the 2015 U.S. National Amateur super heavyweight championship. He ended his amateur career as the number one rated super heavyweight in the United States (and the number five rated super heavyweight in the world) going 19-5 in national tournaments.
In February 2016, Rock signed an exclusive promotional agreement with Roc Nation Sports.