GBBC/GABA ProAm Fights
… Augustine survives knockdown to record win
PAULINE London lived up to the hype she created for her fight against Debbie Tyson, en route to a split decision victory when the sixth stanza of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC)/Guyana Amateur Boxing Association (GABA) ProAm fights punched off last Friday night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

Pauline London (right) lands a powerful left hand to the face of Debbie Tyson during their heavyweight matchup last Friday night in the sixth GBBC/GABA ProAM fights. (Sonell Nelson photo)

Also in winners’ row was Anthony Augustine, who survived a first-round knockdown at the hands of Kurt Bess to record a unanimous decision while Mark Austin and Edmond De Clou were victorious over Shawn Pile and Troy Lewis respectively.

But it was the London/Tyson encounter which brought a vociferous crowd to its feet from as early as the first round, when Tyson backed her talks by forcing London onto to the ropes with a straight left and followed it up with numerous combinations to London ’s body, forcing her opponent to hold.

Both fighters entered the ring with a 1-2 record, with Tyson suffering her last defeat at the hands of Sharon Ward over a year ago, while London’s last defeat came at the hands of Shelly Gibson on the same card that Tyson lost to Ward.
Having survived Tyson’s first round barrage, London turned up the heat in the second round where she went after her opponent like a wolf hunting its prey.

She met with some stiff jabs from Tyson’s left hand, survived those and managed to get in close where she unleashed several unanswered combinations of her own against a visibly tired Tyson.

It was Tyson’s turn to use the bicycle in the third round as London went on the hunt with numerous combinations, some of them being thrown to the wind as her timing was off, while Tyson used a weak jab to keep her at bay.

The fourth round began with London continuing to be the aggressor against Tyson who, three weeks ago, was struck down by the flu bug that is plaguing some citizens today and when she (Tyson) was caught, a toe-to-toe cuff-out took place for a few seconds.

It was here that London seized the initiative and went for her opponent’s head, as she sought to execute her pre-fight threats, landing several punches to the body and face of a fatigued Tyson who seemed waiting to hear the bell to signal the end of the contest.

Chronicle Sports photographer Sonell Nelson was on hand to catch Anthony ‘Big Six’ Augustine (left) throw one of his numerous right hands to the body of his opponent Kurt Bess during their heavyweight clash last Friday night in the sixth GBBC/GABA ProAM fights.

The decision came as no surprise to those in attendance who were brought to their feet by the two female pugilists from the second round and to further celebrate same, London did a brief modeling exhibition much to the amusement of the spectators.

The London/Tyson encounter served as the perfect appetiser for the feature bout between Augustine and Bess which was a heavyweight encounter and they lived up to the expectations from the first bell to the last.

An overhand right from the much taller Bess found its mark on Augustine’s chin, flooring the bigger of the two fighters midway the first round.
Augustine received a count from referee Eion Jardine and when the fight resumed, he was forced to weather a series of punches from his opponent who hails from the mining town of Linden and was hitting him at will.

Bess continued to bully Augustine in the early stages of the second round, forcing him onto the ropes, before Augustine, who probably used the knockdown as a wake-up call, unleashed a series of right hands, knocking back the head of Bess who had no choice but to clinch his opponent for the remainder of the round whenever he had the opportunity to do so.

A toe-to-toe slugfest ensued in the final two rounds, with Augustine, who rarely used his left hand when he defeated local journeyman Leon ‘The Lion’ Gilkes in the last stanza of the ProAm fights, delivering some telling blows to the body and head of Bess.

Boxing fans  at the  Cliff Anderson Sports Hall sensed a knockout as Augustine backed Bess to the ropes and kept him there for a long time, pounding away at his body in search of a knockdown of his own, but despite showing signs of having weak legs, Bess survived the onslaught but lost the battle as Augustine was declared the winner.

Both Lewis and Pile looked out of sorts against their opponents, with an aggressive Austin, who vowed to not make himself a stepping stone to any boxer in his career, taking the fight to Pile who was looking to use same as a warm-up for his WBC/CABOFE title clash later this month in Barbados against Miguel Antoine.

After feeling each other out in the first round where both boxers exchanged telling blows to the body and head, it was Austin who turned up the heat on Pile, who had to take a referee’s timeout due to a low blow.

Austin was all over Pile, forcing him onto the ropes with telling combinations to the body and head, forcing Pile who dropped to 2-2, to hold on as he boxed his way to a comfortable unanimous decision, at the same time, taking his record to 2-0, following his convincing debut victory over Cecil Smith last month at the same venue.

Out of 12 fights, Troy Lewis had won two prior to his drawn encounter with national welterweight champion Iwan Azore and when he signed to meet Linden’s Edmond De Clou, he said his focus was on a rematch with Azore and De Clou was in his way.

Certainly last Friday night, De Clou was in his way throughout the four rounds of their super middleweight encounter, as he jabbed and delivered telling body blows on his way to a unanimous decision win over his more experienced opponent.

The taller de Clou threw and landed numerous and unanswered combinations to the body of Lewis, who was looking for that one big punch which never came, as he recorded loss number 11 in his professional career, while De Clou chalked up his first professional victory.

On the amateur side of things, Michael Jordan, Benjamin Henry, Simeon Hardy and Kelsie George all walked away with 3-0 victories over Keeve Allicock, Richard Williamson, Ron Smith and Rayon Hernandez respectively.

All the amateur fighters were presented with a hamper by Courts (Guyana) Limited, but what must have been heartening for the executives of both the GBBC and the GABA were the sentiments of the fans present who are all eagerly looking forward to the next ProAm fight card this month end at the same venue.