… Wins for Singh, Allicocks and Benjamin
REPUBLICAN Gym’s Nandkumar ‘The Real Bully’ Singh and Alfred Benjamin along with siblings Keeve and Kevin Allicock were part of the victorious bunch of pugilists who competed on the first night of the Guyana Amateur Boxing Association (GABA)/Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport (MCYS)-organised Michael Parris National Open boxing championships at the National Gymnasium, on  Friday night.
It was at that same venue early this year that Singh wooed the crowd with a powerful display as he boxed his way to the GABA Novices Most Valuable Boxer title and on the opening night of a championship that is renamed after Guyana’s lone Olympic medallist Michael Parris, he showed how it was done.
Singh faced a much taller foe in the Guyana Defence Force’s (GDF) Ryan Jeffers who employed a stiff left jab for most of the bout, which forced Singh to take a standing eight-count by the referee in the first round.
Apparently, that was the signal for Singh to turn up the heat, as he took control of the bout on his way to a 2-1 decision, forcing Jeffers to take a standing eight-count, as he unleashed a series of combinations thrown from every vantage point he got.
Jeffers also got in some punches of his own in a bout that had the small but appreciative crowd that included president of the GABA Steve Ninvalle, Director of Sport Neil Kumar, Parris and his family, on their feet from the halfway stage of the first round to the final bell.
Prior to the Singh/Jeffers match-up, both Kevin and Keeve Allicock of Harpy Eagles provided the crowd with good entertainment, both boxers coming away with 3-0 decisions over their opponents in Terrence Adams of Harpy Eagles and GDF’s Delon Ryan respectively.
The Kevin Allicock/Adams match-up was the first final of the championships, contested in the flyweight (51kg) division, with the younger Allicock dominating his gym mate from the opening bell to the last one.
So dominant was he that some of his other gym mates who were at the venue and throwing their support behind Adams, were forced to throw their support behind Kevin Allicock, who threw several unanswered combinations at will to Adams’ body.
Having looked at and cheered on his younger brother, Keeve Allicock, who had dominated Guyana’s 2010 Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games bronze medallist Dexter Jordan in the Guyana Boxing Board of Control/GABA ProAm fights last month, did the same to Ryan.
It was a terrible affair for Ryan who seemed to have no answer to Keeve Allicock’s vicious two-fisted onslaught with some likening the fight to a foreign exchange cambio board, where every 20 punches thrown by Keeve Allicock was answered by a timid one from Ryan.
The attitude that took Keeve Allicock past Jordan was displayed last Friday night, when he boxed, punched and at times weaved his way around a hapless-looking Ryan, who sought but got insufficient help from his corner, while having a standing eight-count administered to him.
Singh’s gym mate Alfred Benjamin made it two out of three fights for their gym, after seeing Romano Clarke box his way to a 3-0 decision against Delroy Nero, when he withstood a barrage of punches from GDF’s Blair Haynes to come away with a 2-1 decision in the final bout of the night.
Ten bouts were carded on the first night of action and things got under way following brief remarks from Ninvalle, Parris and Kumar, with a pint-sized Odeny Moore of Essequibo Boxing Gym (EBG), walking away with a 3-0 decision over Forgotten Youth Foundation’s (FYF) and crowd favourite John Anthony.
Shaka Moore (EBG) also scored a 3-0 decision over Elijah Insanally (Harpy Eagles), before Central New Amsterdam Gym’s (CNAG) Michael April placed a halt to EBG’s winning streak when he gained a 3-0 decision over Andel Moore.
Ezekiel Accra and Seon Griffith both from FYF secured 3-0 decisions over Dale La Fleur (CNAG) and Troy Armstrong (FYF) respectively, following which, the Allicocks, Singh and Benjamin entertained the small but appreciative crowd on hand.
The action continued at the same venue last night, with the finals being carded for tonight, when Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport (MCYS) Dr Frank Anthony is expected to deliver brief remarks and assist with the distribution of prizes.