BBC/GABA Friday Night Fights …
WHEN the second Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) in collaboration with the Guyana Amateur Boxing Association (GABA)-organised ‘Friday Night Fights’ punches off this Friday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH), Troy Lewis will be looking to stop his second opponent Eversley Browne. It was Lewis who stole the spotlight on the inaugural card, when he knocked out Rudolph Fraser within 70 seconds of the first round of their scheduled four-round bout and he will be looking for an early finish when he faces Browne.
“At the moment, I am feeling great and I am in the best shape of my life, therefore I will be looking for an early knockout, as I aim to maintain my unblemished record in the Friday Night Fights promotions. He may be taller, but the bigger they are, the harder they fall and he is going down,” stated Lewis.
In reply to his opponent’s threats, Browne stated, “I am no pushover and I will be looking to stop him dead in his tracks. I am bigger, stronger and taller than he and his first round opponent, which is an advantage for me, so if he thinks this will be a walk in the park, he has something else coming.”
Both Lewis and Browne were making an invited comment, after the GBBC held a press conference in the studios of the National Communications Network (NCN) yesterday afternoon, where president of the GBBC Peter Abdool called on the boxing public to support the bouts.
“Guyana has always produced tremendous fighters and what we are looking to do via these bouts is to increase their records, as they prepare to become first national, Caribbean and then world champions in the future,” said Abdool who is also the head of the World Boxing Council’s (WBC) Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE).
According to Abdool, if Guyana is to win an Olympic gold medal, the sport of boxing is most likely the one to do so and with fans being asked to pay a meagre $500 for two hours of exciting and excellent boxing, a much better turnout is anticipated this time around.
President of the GABA and Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport (MCYS), Steve Ninvalle, lauded the GBBC for initiating this venture, which has spread to the Ancient County of Berbice, where a recently hosted Pro-am card was a success story.
The eight bouts, which consist of four amateur and a similar number of professional fights being sponsored by Courts (Guyana) Inc., Hand-in-Hand Insurance, Ansa McAl, Digicel and Giftland, will get under way at 20:00 h, with NCN Channel 11 doing a live broadcast.
In the four amateur bouts, Donald Tapp and Richard Williamson will get things cracking in an Under-15 match-up, Theresa London and Amanda Norville will meet in a female lightweight bout, Mervin Ageday and Stephen Gouveia (featherweight) and Devon Boatswain and Delroy James in an Open elite contest.
In the professional category, Mandessa Moses and Alicia Marques will get things rolling in a catch weight bout, Shawn Pile will go up against Paul Lewis Jr in a junior welterweight rematch, USA-based Elton Dharry and Wilmot Hutson will meet in a bantamweight battle while Lewis will face Browne in a junior middleweight encounter.