Rock prevails over Singh while Pierre stops Primo
LOUD shouts of ‘No’ and ‘Robbery’ emanated around the National Gymnasium on Sunday night when the decision was announced that the Guyana Defence Force’s (GDF) Clevon Rock had defeated Republican Gym’s Nandkumar Singh to retain his national amateur lightweight title on the final night of the Guyana Amateur Boxing Association/Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport-organised, Stag Beer-sponsored Michael Parris National Open Championships.
It was the third time in 2010 that Singh faced the 2008 Junior Sportsman-of-the-Year winner and for the third successive time, those who witnessed their heated battle cried foul when the decision was announced in favour of Rock.
But while Singh had to endure a controversial decision, Markenber ‘Violence’ Pierre did not leave the judges with any decision to make, as he unleashed a powerful left uppercut to the body of Samuel Primo which sent him sprawling face first to the canvas at 2:02 seconds inside the third and final round to claim the light heavyweight crown for the first time.
What was more daring last Sunday night was the perplexed look on the face of national coach Terrence Poole when Rock was announced the winner – an announcement that left most of his supporters in shock, while those who supported Singh, including some of his family members throng the official’s table seeking a reversal of the decision.
From the opening bell, all who had gathered at the venue observed an attacking Singh working his way around Rock’s jab to get inside and deliver those trademark power punches to his opponent’s body, drawing ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ from the fair-size crowd.
Not to be outdone, Rock, who along with his gym mate Devon Boatswain will be journeying to India next month to compete in the Commonwealth Games, ensured Singh felt the sting of his jabs, followed by a few uppercuts to the body and head, as the two were engaged in a toe-to-toe slugfest for the first two rounds.
The final round began with Singh continuing his vicious assault on the body of Rock, forcing him to take a standing eight-count, while Singh himself had to undergo the same from the referee while on the attack, amidst loud shouts of ‘no’ from the crowd, some of whom had gathered ringside cheering on the ‘Real Coolie Bully’ from Berbice.
Singh called on all his inner strength to restrain himself from crying when the decision was announced, knowing that he had his man beaten all ends up and still was not awarded the contest, a fact shared by the fans and many boxing enthusiasts, including former welterweight champion Michael Benjamin and Director of Sport Neil Kumar.
Following the presentation of prizes at the conclusion of the bout, Singh with permission from the ring announcer, apologised to Kumar, president of the GABA Steve Ninvalle, and Minister of Sport Dr Frank Anthony for his behaviour at the announcement of the decision, a move that brought a loud round of applause from the appreciative spectators.
Prior to facing Pierre, Primo was predicting a second-round knockout victory over his GDF gym mate and signalled such intentions when he sent him wobbling to the far corner within the first minute of the first round.
Such actions woke up a sleepy-looking Pierre and from that point onwards he lived up to his nickname as he opened a violent assault on Primo who took on his opponent in a toe-to-toe punch-out, until the third round, when Pierre’s uppercut found its mark and Primo took refuge on the canvas.
Harpy Eagles’ Imran Khan created the first upset of the night when he walked away with a comfortable 3-0 decision over his gym mate Keeve Allicock to take the Open Elite bantamweight title, following which Delon Allicock (no relation) defeated Benjamin Henry to take the featherweight division.
Romario Clarke was no match for the 24-year-old Boatswain who retained his national amateur middleweight title with an easy 3-0 victory, while Trelon Monroe (RG) and Kemol Emmanuel (GDF) had the referee stop their contest in the second and first rounds respectively against Brian Bailey (RG) and Murtland McDonald (GDF) respectively to take the heavyweight and super heavyweight titles.
Following the brief halt in proceedings after the Singh/Rock contest, Dr Anthony, who along with Denny Dalton, former national middleweight champion Wayne Harris and the Parris clan assisted with the presentation of trophies, presented the ring that was used for the championships to the GABA.
Forgotten Youth Foundation (FYF) was named the champion gym in the junior category with Essequibo Boxing Gym (EBG) the runners-up while the GDF took home the senior champion gym honours, leaving Republican to settle for the second spot once again.