‘Wonder Kid’ Atwell kayoes Fraser to take featherweight title
,,, Dorway. Jones and De Clou also victorious
DOMINICAN Republic-based Guyanese Clive ‘Wonder Kid’ Atwell crowned himself in glory last Friday night at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, when he recorded a stunning 25-second second-round knock-out victory over Rudolph Fraser to take the national featherweight title on the 24th edition of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC)/Guyana Amateur Boxing Association (GABA) 24th ProAm card.
Also in victory lane were Gladwin Dorway and Kwesi ‘Lightning Struck Assassin’ Jones who both knocked out their opponents, and national World Boxing Council/Caribbean Boxing Federation (WBC/CABOFE) middleweight champion Edmond De Clou, who scored an unimpressive unanimous decision win over Joel McRae for the third time.
At the press conference held the previous day, Atwell warned Fraser to get past the hurdle in front of him first, before he look to take another step, and certainly judging from his performance last Friday night, Fraser did not heed the warning of his opponent, a former Pan American Games bronze medallist.
The first round was a cautious one, where both pugilists felt each other out, using the jabs to stave off each other, while Atwell managed to land a few hooks from both hands to the body of Fraser, who at one time flinched from such punches.
However, to the detriment of Fraser and possibly the surprise of his corner, Atwell landed a vicious right hand that connected to the head of a moving Fraser who sought refuge on the canvas, hitting the back of his head hard in the process.
It was a punch that had a telling effect, as when he stood up to get the count from Eion Jardine, the third man in the ring, his legs were wobbly while he failed to adhere to the instructions, prompting Jardine to wave off the contest in favour of Atwell who was handed the featherweight title by GBBC’s Andrew Thorne.
In the first professional bout, Dorway, who was making his debut against David Thomas, looked the part by using his reach and height advantage to good effect, executing his jab to keep Thomas at bay and who at times evaded same to land a few punches to the body of his opponent.
Dorway began the second stanza in an aggressive mode, attacking the body and head of Thomas with crisp combinations, backing up his man first in a neutral corner then his (Thomas’) own corner, landing unanswered punches at will.
Thomas suffered a cut over his left eyebrow from a barrage of punches and even though he was strong on his feet, it took an impressive uppercut at 2:35secs in the second round from Dorway, that found its mark on the chin of his opponent, who bowed down on his knees in Muslim-like fashion on the canvas, and only got up when the ringside doctor was called in.
De Clou had promised to wipe the floor clean with McRae, saying his opponent was not a worthy one for him to be defending his national middleweight title against, when they met for the third time, after recording two unanimous decision victories in their first two meetings.
Luckily for De Clou, M Rae weighed in heavier than the stipulated weight allowed, hence the bout became a non-title one, but the performance from McRae was by far a more creditable one, even though he lost the bout.
He withstood all that De Clou threw at him and even made his man cling on for dear life and reputation, during the eight rounds of their 12 rounds contest, after weathering a barrage of combinations from De Clou and turning the tables with a few of his own.
What may have daunted McRae’s spirit was the standing eight-count he received from referee Franklyn Brisport, who felt the Trinidad and Tobago-based Guyanese pugilist was on the receiving end of a left hand from De Clou, when he actually slipped while pursuing his opponent.
At the end of the 12 rounds, the three judges namely Andrew Thorne, Trevor Arno and Clairmont De Souza scored the bout, 117-111, 116-112 and 116-111, all in favour of De Clou, who forced McRae on the back foot several times, but for reasons unknown, failed to finish the contest.
Jones promised an early night for boxing fans, saying Berbice’s Kelsie George would not be able to withstand the bombs he planned to unleashed on him and, true to his word, Jones demolished his man forcing him to retire at 1:28 of the first round.
On the amateur side of things, Ryan Persaud, Albert Thomas, Ryan Sumner and Richard Williamson all recorded victories over Elijah Insanally, Tefon Green, Shaka Moore and Matthew Allensworth respectively, while Digicel, ‘The Bigger, Better Network’ distributed giveaways to the fans.