‘I will knock you out’ – ‘Candyman’ Hardy
JUDGING from the mild exchange of words between 24-year-old Simeon ‘Candyman’ Hardy and his 32-year-old opponent Winston Pompey, tonight’s junior middleweight six-round eliminator, scheduled for the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, may not go the distance. The two will face each other in the feature bout of the 18th edition Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC), in collaboration with the Guyana Amateur Boxing Association (GABA) and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport-organised monthly ProAm Friday Night Fights (FNF).
“I will knock you out, since I will be going out there to put in my best performance which I always do and if you and even the boxing public don’t look out, you may get a FNF record-breaking TKO, as you are no threat to me,” said Hardy.
Hardy burst onto the professional scene with a bang, having scored a 20-second first round TKO over Patrick Boston in his first professional bout and made reference to same against Pompey yesterday, saying he was never impressed by Pompey when he saw him fight.
“He has been in the professional arena long before me, but I am not impressed. I even witnessed him fight during my amateur career, which means he will have the experience and all that comes with it over me, but I am not fazed.
“I have a punch I call ‘the chin checker’ and if he can withstand that, then I will have to change my fight plans, but if he cannot, then it will be bye-bye, goodnight Pompey, as I intend to prove to all and sundry that I belong here.”
Looking ahead, Hardy indicated to president of the GBBC, Peter Abdool, who along with GABA coordinator Terrence Poole, GBBC secretary Howard Cox and Barbadian promoter Samuel Layne, his intentions to face Andrew ‘Sixhead’ Lewis, Iwan Azore and even Howard ‘Battersea Bomber’ Eastman for the junior middleweight title.
“When I am finished with Pompey who made himself a stumbling block in my path to success, tomorrow night (tonight), I want to take on Iwan Azore, Howard Eastman and Andrew Lewis. I don’t want people to feel I am bluffing my way through this thing, as I am not,” stated Hardy who has remained unbeaten in his four professional fights to date while stopping three of his opponents within the distance.
Not to be outdone, Pompey whose record reads 3-9-2, while suffering a fifth round TKO at the hands of Jamaica’s Sakima Mullings back in June of this year when he challenged him for the Commonwealth title, begged Hardy not to run but stand up and back his words.
“I am a warrior and what you are doing is bringing the war to me. However, I hope you stand up and fight and not run as if you are on the athletics track for I know to myself there is nothing you can do to hurt me, as I am prepared to take all that you have to offer.
“I have sparred with Andrew Lewis for this bout and certainly, you don’t have the body to take what I will offer in return and while I am not looking for a knockout, if one does come my way, I will be taking it and at the same time do so in style,” stated Pompey.
“You have sparred with Lewis, a feat I have achieved at the age of 17, where I put in a creditable performance. I have never given a round to any of my opponents and tomorrow night (tonight) it will not be different. I am taking every round you face me and like I said before, I will knock you out,” stated Hardy.
Kelsie George and Shaheid Alli will be making their professional debuts tonight, with George taking on a seasoned campaigner in Troy Lewis while Alli opposes Charlton Skeete.
According to Lewis, George has bitten off more than he can chew, while he feels he has placed the wrong foot forward when he signed the contract to face him and he can expect a baptism of fire, since I have a lot of bombs to throw at him.
“They don’t call me ‘The Spoiler’ for nothing and I intend to prove to him the true meaning of that nickname, when I put on a first-class thrashing which will be laden with bombs on him tonight. In fact, I will make him regret picking me as his first opponent for his professional fight,” Lewis said.
George’s record as an amateur did not disturb Lewis who openly said, “Your words are nothing. All you can do is talk, talk and more talk. I do my talking in the ring and tonight you will feel the real bombs coming off my hand.”
The other professional fight will see Barbados’ Miguel Antoine take on Jermaine King, both pugilists promising to beat the living daylight out of the opponent, with Antoine thanking the GBBC for having him here to showcase his boxing skills to the Guyanese public once again.
Layne, in his capacity as the manager of both Antoine and Shawn Cox, lauded the GBBC for doing a fantastic job with the FNF, saying it would be a bigger plus when more international pugilists step into the squared circle at the CASH.
“You (GBBC) are doing a fantastic job with these monthly cards, as you are giving both amateur and professional boxers the opportunity to fight while developing their careers further for which I wish to applaud your efforts,” said Layne.
He further told his audience that he had a fight made for Eastman, who faced and was defeated by national light heavyweight champion Kwesi ‘Lightning Speed Assassin’ Jones instead, against a Canadian opponent, but have plans for Guyanese fighters to showcase their skills in Barbados.
“There will be a card in Barbados on November 29 at a venue to be named, where the winner of the Hardy/Pompey encounter will face Trinidad and Tobago’s Richard Reittie. I am also looking at a possible rematch between Mark Austin and Miguel Antoine for the junior welterweight Commonwealth title.
Either way, we will have the card and definitely boxers from Guyana will be showcasing their skills to the Barbadian public when it does occur, as I know they have the ability and talent to do so with some of them doing so with the greatest of ease too,” stated Layne.
Abdool, whose brainchild it was to have the FNF, said his intentions and expectations turned out right as tonight’s card will see six amateur boxers making their ProAm debut, while two of them will be stepping up to the professional ranks for the first time.
Poole took the time to outline the amateur segment of tonight’s action. The first bell will ring at 20:00hrs, when recently crowned GABA Intermediate welterweight champion Marlon Daryl will take on Kishon Simon in a junior welterweight bout.
Branco Gouveia and Richard Williamson will punch off with their bantamweight clash, followed by another junior welterweight encounter between Kevin David and Travis Fraser, while Trevor King and Winston George will culminate the amateur segment with their welterweight encounter.
Admission to the venue is $1 000 while children under the age of 12 will be admitted at half-price and even though the action will be shown live on NCN Channel 11, Cox, Howard and Abdool urged the boxing fans to make their way down to the CASH to witness the action live and offer support to their favourite fighter.