LOCAL professional boxers yesterday inked their contracts to square off in a three-bout professional card, organised by the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) and scheduled for the Giftland Mall, Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, on April 9, starting at 19:00hrs.
The card which is a ProAm one will also feature three amateur bouts on the programme.
The feature fight will bring together Dexter `The Cobra’ Marques and Venezuelan Luis Alberto Requena Zarraga in a 10-round flyweight contest. Meanwhile the main supporting bout, an all-Guyanese affair, is a six-round super middleweight one between local fighters Edmond Declou and Winston Pompey.
The opening professional contest is also an all-Guyanese affair and brings together Imran `The Magic’ Khan and Keeve Allicock in a six-round lightweight contest.
The amateur segment of the card will see Rewinne David take on Akella Malazon over four rounds in a featherweight contest, Kelon Isaacs versus Euel Augustine in a light welterweight bout over three rounds and Stephan Gouveia against Jackford Joseph in a three-round welterweight bout.
Addressing members of the media at the contract-signing yesterday at the Abdool and Abdool Insurance firm, GBBC president Peter Abdool noted that the card is a small one, but the objective is to have more activities of such nature to give exposure to young professional fighters.
At the same time they will help the country’s amateur boxers to be more actively involved while building their capacity to move to the next level.
GBBC president Abdool said he has tremendous confidence in Marques and he (Abdool) and the GBBC want to give Marques every opportunity to move his career ahead as he is of the belief that Marques is world championship material.
Abdool stated that persons look at the welterweight and heavier weight divisions but place little emphasis on the lighter weight divisions and he firmly believes that Marques can be Guyana’s next world champion.
To this end, Abdool said the GBBC would be pursuing a Commonwealth title for `The Cobra’ Marques and this fight will be staged right here in Guyana.
Abdool noted that the Giftland Mall is an ideal location for staging boxing cards as it attracts huge spectator support and once next month’s card attracts the kind of support anticipated, the GBBC will work on organising a monthly Sunday night card.
Abdool also informed that one month ago, the World Boxing Council (WBC) launched its world amateur programme in Trinidad and Tobago as it (WBC) has its misgivings how amateur boxing is going.