Thomas no show as Singh defeats Sandiford  
-to face disciplinary actions
DENNIS Thomas promised to avenge his first fight defeat against Devon Boatswain at the fourth stanza of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC)/Guyana Amateur Boxing Association (GABA)/Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports ProAm Friday Night Fights last Friday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall. Not only was it dubbed a rematch, but also a box off where the winner was guaranteed a place on the national team to contest the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Puerto Rico. 

The end result was Thomas being a no show, forcing Boatswain to be involved in an exhibition encounter with Bert Braithwaite who gave a good account of himself against a much heavier Boatswain.

In an invited comment with Chronicle Sport, vice president of the GABA Raj Kumar said insularity in amateur boxing would not go unnoticed and in the same way Thomas’ gym mate Stephan Gouveia was penalized for failing to show up, Thomas can expect the same.

“He was not originally selected on the team for the CAC Games while Boatswain was heavily favoured and having complained about being out of shape when they last fought, we decided to give him (Thomas) another crack, making their bout a box off.

This was a bout everyone in the amateur ranks were looking forward to, especially since Thomas said he had something up his sleeve for Boatswain who bullied him in the first fight” said Kumar.

He further stated that while he does not have the liberty to elaborate or even disclose Thomas’ punishment, he knows that it will be more severe than the one Gouveia was forced to endure, taking into consideration the necessary steps the executive of the GABA endured leading up to the box off contest.

“Thomas was in need of a new passport and we petitioned the Immigration Department to speed up the process on his application for a new passport, added to which he left the refurbished Harpy Eagles gym and moved to Andrew ‘Six Head’ Lewis gym, without notifying the GABA” said Kumar.

But while Thomas was a no show for his middleweight match up with Boatswain, Singh who was earlier this year nominated the GABA Best Boxer at their Novices Championships, dominated amateur featherweight champion Ray Sandiford en route to a 2-1 victory in their catchweight contest.

Having lost the first round to Sandiford who displayed a high level of boxing technique, Singh, who had a convincing victory in his first FNF which earned him the nick name ‘The Next Coolie Bully’, rebounded to out punched and out boxed Sandiford.

In the first amateur bout of the evening, an out of sorts looking Troy Billey another CAC Games selectee, was disciplined by Dexter Wray who walked away with a 3-0 decision, forcing Billey to undergo a box off against Orlando Allicock on Saturday for his spot on the CAC Games.

Laurel Stewart was also in winners’ row, walking away with a 3-0 win over Port Kaituma’s George Anthony who was exposed to a different level of training here in Georgetown and can be one for the future for the GABA.

All the boxers appearing on the amateur segment of the card, were presented with hampers, compliments of COURTS ( Guyana ) Incorporated.