Back in May it was announced that Providence, Rhode Island junior lightweight Toka Kahn-Clary had signed a promotional deal with Top Rank. As an amateur Kahn-Clary was the legitimate "real deal" having won the 2010 National Golden Gloves, a silver medal at the 2011 U.S. Championships and a bronze medal at the 2012 U.S. National Championships.
Kahn-Clary trains out of Providence with Peter Manfredo Sr., and the 20 year old fought four times in 2012 amassing a record of 3-0-1, which should have/could have been 4-0 but for a no contest on October 18, 2012 as a result of an unintentional clash of heads. Though his debut was impressive, and his 2012 was a welcome addition to the roster of Providence-based boxing there is no doubt that Kahn-Clary turned pro as a bit of a "Plan B." It was Kahn-Clary's hope that he'd follow in the footsteps of fellow Providence native's Jason Estrada and Demetrius Andrade and make the trip to London for the Olympics in 2012 -- that obviously did not happen. It will be interesting to see how the failure to achieve the Olympic dream will fuel Kahn-Clary, especially as we turn the clock into 2013 and some of those London Olympians start to make their professional names known.
The last time Kahn-Clary was in the ring was December 6, 2012 in Las Vegas where he won a four round unanimous decision victory over Jesus Garza. As of right now there is nothing on the horizon for Kahn-Clary with no fights announced at the time of this writing. However, with his amateur pedigree, and the backing of Top Rank there is little doubt that Kahn-Clary is one to watch in 2013, and his debut should be highlighted as the top Rhode Island debut of 2012.
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