GUYANA’S Mark Austin lost out in his bid to capture his first title as a professional boxer, when he suffered a unanimous decision loss to Barbados’ Miguel Antoine in the second Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC), in collaboration with the Guyana Amateur Boxing Association (GABA) ProAm Friday Night Fights (FNF), at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall last Friday night.
Prior to the fight, Austin’s record read 5-1, having chalked up victories over Shawn Pile, Jermaine King, Revlon Lake and Errol Trotman, before he was held to a draw by Clive Atwell, hence his confidence level was high going into the contest with Antoine.
However, at the end of 10 rounds, the judges ruled in favour of the pugilist from the Island of the Flying Fish, while Austin slipped to 5-1-1, as he suffered his first loss on the FNF, where he made his debut with a unanimous decision victory over Cecil Smith last June.
In other professional matches for the night, Dexter Marques defeated Hewley Robertson in their super bantamweight clash and Rudolph Fraser defeated Gordiel Roberts, both by unanimous decisions.
Mandessa Moses continues to impress with a unanimous decision victory over Veronica Blackman in their catchweight contest that was the main supporting bout to the Austin/Antoine matchup.
On the amateur side of things, Shaka Moore of Essequibo Boxing Gym defeated Elijah Insanally of Harpy Eagles by a 3-0 decision in their 70-74 lb contest and Benjamin Henry of Port Kaituma Gym bettered Carlton La Fleur of FYF, with the referee stopping the contest at 2:49secs in the second round.
Richard Williamson, fighting out of the Pocket Rocket Gym in Berbice triumphed over Imran Khan of Harpy Eagles by a 2-1 decision in a flyweight matchup, while Delroy Nero of Republican Gym got past David Thomas of Young Achievers by a 3-0 scorecard in a junior welterweight contest.