… says ‘Big Truck’ was not properly prepared
JUST last week, Barbados’ Samuel Layne, the manager and promoter of newly crowned World Boxing Council/Caribbean Boxing Federation (WBC/CABOFE) champion Shawn ‘The Sniper’ Cox, praised president of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) Peter Abdool. “He has been doing an exceptionally great job and he has created a lot of stir, excitement and activity for boxers in the Caribbean lately, with this upcoming card bearing testimony, since it will have five CABOFE titles at stake,” said Layne of Abdool, with regard to last Saturday’s card which saw Wayne ‘Big Truck’ Braithwaite go under to Cox, via a first-round TKO.
When contacted for an invited comment, after his charge Elton ‘Coolie Bully’ Dharry himself recorded a first-round TKO over Barbados-based Guyanese Selwyn Lett, former light middleweight champion Lennox Blackmoore concurred with Layne by saying Abdool is doing wonders for local boxers.
“First of all, I don’t think Wayne ‘Big Truck’ Braithwaite was prepared for this fight. The champion Shawn Cox came out like a professional and he was more serious in the fight, and if you ask ‘Truck’ with whom he boxed to prepare for the fight he would not have an answer for you, as he did not take the fight serious enough.
“He underestimated the man, maybe because he thinks he is the ‘Big Truck’; and people asked me my opinion of the fight before and I said I know he got four good wheels, but I don’t know how the engine is working and it was known,” said Blackmoore.
The 62-year-old USA-based Guyanese who chalked up an impressive record which reads 25-5 during his professional career, which saw him suffer a second round TKO to Aaron Pryor for the World Boxing Association lightweight title, said he did not see Braithwaite prepare with anyone for the contest.
“I live in America and I did not see him do any preparation with anyone. He is talking about being in Russia and going to the gym every day when a fight of this magnitude requires at least six weeks preparation and certainly he was not ready for the fight.”
He added, “His lack of proper preparation caused him to be hurt very early in the first round and even if he thought he could have held on to continue fighting that was impossible as his opponent was stronger than him anyway.”
Giving his opinion on the 37-year-old Cox, whose record moved to 16-1 in comparison to Braithwaite’s 24-5, Blackmoore said the Barbadian is a serious fighter, who takes all his fights as if they are world title fights, hence his unblemished record in Guyana to date, where he has knocked out all but one of his opponents.
“He looks like a guy who trains very hard for his fights. If you listened to what he said yesterday when ‘Big Truck’ called him a name, in which he promised to knock out ‘Truck’, that tells you the seriousness of his training.
He came out in the first round, meaning to knock out ‘Big Truck’ and that shows how serious he was, the look on his face when ‘Truck’ went down the first time, highlighted his intentions and if I was in his shoes and somebody called me garbage, I would have done the same thing,” said Blackmoore.
Blackmoore felt there should have been more marketing for the card which he felt should have had live television coverage from one of the international broadcasters, such as ESPN.
“It was a very good card, a true testament of the work being done by the president of the Guyana Boxing Board Peter Abdool, who coincidentally is also the president of CABOFE. The people of Guyana should appreciate the work he is doing and show more support to boxing – including the Government.
“Not only has he been sanctioning bouts promoted by other promoters, but he himself as the ardent boxing fan that he is, has been organising cards to keep the boxers active, including the monthly ProAm cards that is being held right here at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall. It tells of the development of boxing in Guyana.”
With regard to Dharry’s performance which saw him retain his title in convincing fashion while pushing his record to 8-5-1, Blackmoore said the 26-year old is naturally gifted and just needs to display same to the boxing public across the world, as he looks forward to preparing him for the WBC Cup which punches off in May.
Blackmoore believes that the fistic sport is on the rise in Guyana and with the leadership qualities being shown and highlighted by Abdool, certainly boxers in Guyana can look forward to an active future.