FOLLOWING some investigations by the World Boxing Council (WBC) on current Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE) bantamweight champion Elton ‘Coolie Bully’ Dharry, it was revealed that his last two fights were against opponents without credibility. When the governing body, who also oversees CABOFE fights, which Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) president Peter Abdool heads, questioned his ability to perform creditably at their upcoming championships, Abdool gave his assurance that Dharry would be impressive irrespective of his opponents.
With that in mind and having a look at Dharry’s record which reads 9-5-1, Abdool and the matchmakers of the GBBC decided to have Dharry face Rudolph Fraser for the national super featherweight title on the 24th edition of the GBBC Friday Night Fights, scheduled for the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, next Friday.
At the signing ceremony, Fraser said Dharry does not want anything to do with him for a long time now and following the long string of excuses he has been giving to the GBBC with regard to next Friday’s contest, Fraser’s words are a reality.
According to the GBBC’s matchmaker Eion Jardine, Dharry’s demands on the GBBC, among other things, included airfare for two other persons within his entourage and an increase in his purse for the Fraser bout. These were beyond the reach of the local governing body.
“Ricardo Blackman was talking about facing Dharry after disposing of Dexter ‘The Kid’ Marques, a bout he eventually lost, which made me refuse to have Blackman face Dharry, who went on to fight Marques and defeated him for the WBC/CABOFE bantamweight title.
According to the WBC, Dharry’s most creditable bout was against Marques, even though he had fought against several Mexican fighters before. So when we were putting him up against Fraser, we were looking at improving his credibility record, which they were asking for,” said Jardine.
Jardine said Seon Bristol, who backs Dharry, believes the bout against Fraser would have been the perfect foil for him and he was stunned to hear of the United States-based boxer’s request, especially with his inactiveness of late.
“We give him the option to fight three fighters in one night, 12 rounds of action (3×4 rounds) with the opponents being Carlton Skeete, Prince Slowe and Shahid Ally and they came down and forced our hand after the GBBC had begun publicising the bout as one against three,” said Jardine.
He added, “Dharry and his handlers refused to fight the three in one night and opted instead to face Skeete, who was disposed of in the first round. After seeing things his way, we are asking why he can’t see eye to eye with us for this bout against Fraser, which is in his best interest, based on the WBC’s assumptions.”
Nevertheless, Jardine said the show must go on next week. Hence they made contact with former Central American and Caribbean (CAC) medallist in Dominican Republic-based Clive Atwell (4-0-1), who readily accepted the challenge to replace Dharry and face Fraser for the title.
‘This replacement bout was to occur a few months ago, but we had some hiccups that caused us to pull the fight but now we are going ahead with it and Atwell promises to teach Fraser a lesson he won’t forget, adding that he holds no bars against anyone,” said Jardine.
In an invited comment, Fraser welcomed the opportunity to face Atwell, adding “I am glad for the action in the ring, but sorry I am not facing Dharry. As for Atwell, he will feel the punishment I had in store for Dharry, which would make him regret accepting the fight.”
In other bouts on the card WBC/CABOFE and national middleweight champion Edmond ‘Wonder Boy’ De Clou will defend his local title against Joel McRae, Kwesi ‘Lightning Assassin’ Jones will face Kwesi George and Gladwin Dorway will oppose David Thomas.
There will also be four amateur bouts, organised by the Guyana Amateur Boxing Association, who along with the GBBC and the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, will coordinate the monthly ProAm card, which has been giving boxers on the local scene and even in the Caribbean upward mobility.