O’Neil outpoints Warde; Rogers edges Augustine

New Year Beatings boxing card …

GWENDOLYN `The Stealth Bomber’ O’Neil out-pointed Sharon `The Spoiler’ Warde in the main bout of the Holland’s Promotions New Year Beatings boxing card at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on Friday night, while Mitchell Rogers edged Anthony Augustine in the main supporting bout.


Mitchell Rogers (right) connects with straight right to the jaw of Anthony Augustine during the fourth round, forcing the referee Eion Jardine to issue the eight count.

O’Neil, a former World International Boxing Association and World International Boxing Council light-heavyweight champion had predicted a third round knock-out victory over Warde, but that was not to be, as Warde gave fight fans their money’s worth and lasted the full six rounds of the catch weight contest.

Warde, who now has four losses in her career, weighed in at 170 pounds while O’Neil, the taller of the two whose records now stands at 21 fights, eight losses with four of her victories coming by the knock-out route, weighed in at 190.

O’Neil, who had predicted a third-round knockout, made her intention known from the start of the first round, as she stormed Warde with a number of combinations, but Warde stood up to the test and exchanged combinations.
In this reporter’s view, the first round ended even.
In round two, Warde attacked O’Neil who responded in like manner and landed a few clean one-two combinations to her opponent’s head to win the round.

Round three saw O’Neil being the aggressor, taking the fight to her opponent who decided to counterattack but O’Neil was all over her and won the round.


Gwendolyn `The Stealth Bomber’ O’Neil (left) and Sharon `The Spoiler’ Warde exchange combinations during round three of their six-round catch weight fight at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on Friday night (Photos by Sonell Nelson)

Round four saw the two fighters standing toe to toe and exchanging combinations but, for reasons unknown, neither of them decided to throw combinations to the body.

Round five was just like the previous round but O’Neil had the edge and won the round.

The final round brought those present to their feet as the two fighters were at each other throughout, exchanging combinations, and in the end O’Neil prevailed by a unanimous decision.

All three judges (Bernard DeSantos, Trevor Arno and Andrew Thorne) scored the fight 59-55 in favour of O’Neil who will be returning to her base in the USA today.

Prior to the fight, O’Neil had said “This fight is like an exhibition for me as I just want to show the Guyanese public that I still have what it takes to be a world champion.”

When the contracts were signed earlier this month, there was an exchange of heated words between O’Neil and Warde and both fighters made it clear that they are looking forward to the opportunity of settling their personal vendetta.

In the first round of the main supporting heavyweight bout, Rogers and Augustine went at each other and both of them connected crisp straight rights and left hooks.

The pattern was similar in the second round, but Rogers was looking to land the big blow and finish the fight early. However, Augustine took what his opponent had to offer and countered with some telling body shots to win the round.

Round three saw Augustine quartering his opponent and landing several body shots which seemed to have had an effect on Rogers who started to back away. It was Augustine’s round.

In round four, Augustine was rocked by a straight right that connected to his jaw, sending him to the canvas and forcing the referee to issue the mandatory eight count. When Augustine got up, Rogers attacked him again but he (Augustine) stood up to the test.

Round five saw both fighters connecting with combinations and jabs and the round seemed even.

In round six, both fighters started to feel each other out, something they should have done from the very first round.

Augustine chose to go to his opponents’ head instead of the body yet managed to dominate the round. However, when the result was announced, it went in favour of Rogers, much to the dismay of the sparse crowd who booed the unanimous decision.

In results from the other two professional fights, Guyana’s 2007 Pan American Games’ bronze medallist Clyde Atwell made a successful start to his professional career with a second round technical knock-out victory over Charlton Skeete in their featherweight bout.

Skeete was no match for the much improved Atwell who peppered his opponent with a flurry of combinations, causing his handlers to throw in the towel after 35 seconds of the second round.

In the junior-middleweight bout, Iwan Azore scored a unanimous points decision over Laurex Benn in their six-round affair.

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