… ‘Candyman’ has impressive start to pro career
HAVING lost her first professional fight to a Trinidadian, Guyana’s Mandessa Moses turned the tables when she humiliated Trinidad and Tobago’s Leann Boodram, to walk away with a majority decision in the ninth edition of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC)/Guyana Amateur Boxing Association (GABA) ProAm Fights last Friday night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
Another debutant in Simeon ‘Candyman’ Hardy set the tone for the night’s action on the professional side of things, with a magnificent 20-second technical knockout (TKO) over Patrick Boston, while Barbados’ Shawn Cox dismissed the challenge of Anthony Augustine with a 1:10s first-round TKO.
Clive Atwell also found himself in winners’ row, with a unanimous decision over Cecil Smith while Mark Austin continued his impressive showing in the Friday Night Fights (FNF) when he chalked up a majority decision win over Barbados’ Revlon Lake.
Originally set to fight Wendy Allen the woman who defeated her when she made her professional debut last year, Moses had to be content with the likes of Boodram and after a cautious first round, she opened a barrage of punches on her lesser known opponent who had no answer to same.
Boodram stood to her word when she unleashed several combinations towards the head and body of Moses who did extremely well to withstand them but unleashed some of her own, forcing Boodram to take a few steps back.
In an earlier interview with Chronicle Sport, Moses said she loves looking at old tapes of the great Muhammad Ali, as she seeks to perfect her trade and that was evident from the second round, where her left jab, another trade mark of Ali was used to good effect to the head of Boodram.
The diminutive Trinidadian suffered a gash over her left eyebrow in the early stages of the third round, forcing a halt to proceedings as she was attended to by the ringside physician and when the contest resumed, Moses was all over her opponent reigning combinations from all angles.
Two stiff left jabs to the head of Boodram brought the fair-sized crowd, who were very appreciative of the show being put on by the two female pugilists, to their feet as they sensed a knockout, but although Moses tried, she failed to achieve same when the bell was sounded to end the contest.
Earlier, Hardy who was set to make his professional debut on the September edition of the ProAm fights but could not do so after the doctor ruled his opponent Gavin Williams medically unfit, made a name for himself with what can now be described as the fastest knockdown in local boxing history.
The sound of the bell to signal the fight was ebbing away when Boston was seeking refuge on the blue canvas, after being at the receiving end of a left hook followed by a vicious right hand from the ‘Candyman’.
In the second professional fight of the evening, Smith proved to be no match for Atwell and suffered his second defeat on the ProAm card, having lost to Austin earlier in the year, who went on to battle with Atwell to an unanimous draw in September.
Austin survived a spirited attack from Lake before walking away with a majority decision much to the delight of the home crowd who were made silent by Augustine’s devastation at the hands of a much fitter Cox.
On the amateur side of things, Travis Fraser, Ryan Jeffers, Stephan Gouveia and Samuel Primo all walked away with victories over Stephon Joseph, Marlon Daryl, Nandkumar Singh and Brian Bailey respectively, with the referee being forced to stop the final contest between Primo and Bailey in the first round.