WHEN Dominican Republic-based Clive Atwell steps into the squared circle to face Rudolph Fraser tomorrow night for the national featherweight title on the 24th edition of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC)/Guyana Amateur Boxing Association (GABA)-organised ProAm card, he needs to be careful. Those were the warning words of the 35-year-old Fraser, who was originally scheduled to face United States-based World Boxing Council/Caribbean Boxing Federation’s (WBC/CABOFE) bantamweight champion Elton ‘Coolie Bully’ Dharry, who, for several unacceptable reasons, opted out of the fight.
Quick thinking by the GBBC matchmakers substituted Atwell, a former Pan American Games bronze medallist, for Dharry. A confident Fraser called on his opponent to exercise caution lest he gets hurt real bad.
“I don’t know what is Dharry’s problem that made him refuse to take the fight; but to my understanding, he was saying the money is too small for him to fight for, when in some instances, he came home and fought for a lesser amount than what is being offered.
“I was ready to face him, since I always wanted to do so, but for some reason his handlers would not allow him to fight me and I know that at the end of that bout, my hand was going to be raised in victory, as I know he (Dharry) cannot beat me,” said Fraser.
According to Fraser, whose record reads 9-2-1, he knows nothing about Atwell and while he is not being disrespectful to him, he is hungry and brimming with confidence heading into his first title fight in his professional career and doesn’t intend to come out on the losing end.
“I am mentally prepared for this fight. This is the first time I am fighting for a title and I need it badly. I dropped weight to fight Dharry and he refused and now I am facing Atwell in a division that I am comfortable fighting in and I want him (Atwell) to know that it will not be an easy walk in the park.
Not only Atwell, but any fighter who is placed in front of me needs to know that I am not going to just lay there and allow them to have a field day with me and while I am not ruling out the possibility of facing Dharry in the future, if he needs me he will have to come up to my division.”
“I stepped down before and he made lots of excuses about fighting me. He had his chance and he turned it down, so next time around he has to step up and then I will be showing the boxing public, how confident I am about my fights, as I don’t intend to be anyone’s stepping stone,” stated Fraser.
The main supporting bout will feature WBC/CABOFE and national middleweight champion Edmond ‘Wonder Boy’ De Clou, putting his national title on the line against Trinidad and Tobago-based Joel McRae, in what can also be described as a trilogy between the two pugilists.
At the signing ceremony, De Clou promised to demolish McRae, a man he defeated twice on points decision before, while saying that his opponent for tomorrow night is no match for him to defend his title against.
Back then, a confident-looking De Clou (11-1-1) stated, ““We fought twice before and on both occasions, I defeated him, coming away with unanimous decisions and this time around, when I am finished mopping the floor with him, I can take on Walcott (James), who I heard is interested in meeting me for my title.”
National light heavyweight champion Kwesi ‘Lightning Struck Assassin’ Jones will meet Kelsie George in a six-round encounter, for which Jones, who was scheduled to defend his title against Shawn Corbin on last month’s ProAm card, promises to unleash his wrath on the young Berbician.
David Thomas and Gladwin Dorway will kick off the professional segment of the night’s action, with their four-round junior welterweight matchup and with Thomas looking to rebound following his loss to Anson Greene in his lone professional bout to date, certainly Dorway, who is making his debut, will have his work cut out.
The night’s action gets under way at 2000hrs with four amateur bouts featuring Ryan Persaud up against Elijah Insanally (75-79lb), Stefan Green facing Albert Thomas (85-89lb), Shaka Moore meeting Ryan Sumner (95-99lb) and Matthew Allensworth clashing with Joel Williamson in the 105 -109lb category.
Meanwhile, some of the principals involved in tomorrow night’s action will be present in the studios of the National Communication Network (NCN) Channel 11 at 14:00hrs today for a press conference.