HAVING suffered a shocking first round TKO at the hands of Barbados’ Shawn ‘The Sniper’ Cox when the two met for the World Boxing Council/ Caribbean Boxing Federation (WBC/CABOFE) heavyweight title last February, Guyana’s ex-world champion, Wayne ‘Big Truck’ Braithwaite gets an opportunity to redeem himself in front of his home based fans. Come September 2 at the Banks DIH Thirst Park ground, Braithwaite will oppose Trinidad and Tobago-based Guyanese, Sean Corbin for the WBC/CABOFE cruiserweight title, which was first announced as an elimination bout.
The fight will be the main attraction on the card, which is being promoted exclusively by the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC), after the cruiserweight division was added by the WBC for their upcoming Cup of Champions boxing championships which is being hosted as part of their 50th Anniversary.
The winner of the Braithwaite/Corbin clash will subsequently face Canadian Troy Ross to qualify for the Cup of Champions, but that fight is tentative, as Ross is slated to take on Germany-based Cuban, Yoan Pablo Hernandez, on September 15 for the IBF Cruiserweight title in Germany.
Should Ross win that fight, he will have to forfeit entering the WBC Cup of Champions since the IBF is a higher level of competition, handing the victor in the Braithwaite/Corbin encounter, a straightforward entry to the WBC Cup of Champions.
The Braithwaite/Corbin encounter is a critical one for both boxers, who are seeking to get their careers back on the right path following unconvincing performances in their last journey to the ‘square jungle.’
Like Braithwaite, the 37-year-old Corbin who has 14 wins with 10 knockouts, endured a knockout in his most recent fight, losing in round four of a scheduled 10-rounder to Polish Dawid Kostecki for the vacant WBC Baltic Light Heavyweight title in Warsaw, Holland.
Braithwaite will celebrate his 37th birthday six days from today and having won the vacant WBC Cruiserweight title in 2002 with a 10th round TKO of Vincenzo Cantatore, made three successful defences to take his record to 21-0, before things went downhill.
He has won just three of his last eight fights, with the most embarrassing of defeats coming against Cox earlier this year, when he was completely decimated by the massively-built Barbadian, to leave his record at 24-5, with 20 of his victories coming via the knockout route.
In an earlier interview with Chronicle Sport, Braithwaite said nothing was more embarrassing to him, than his loss to Cox which occurred in front of his home fans in his first fight here in Guyana, since winning the world title.
“Many persons don’t know it, but I felt humiliated and embarrassed after that defeat. Yes it hurt me more, as I wanted to put on a good show for the boxing public back home but did not get a chance to do so.
He (Cox) was the better man on the night and he came out on top, but that’s the past for me. My aim is to redeem myself and this fight with Corbin is the perfect foil for me to do so, as I am eager to do good and let my fans know that Wayne ‘Big Truck’ Braithwaite is still here.”
Guyana’s CABOFE bantamweight champion, Elton ‘Coolie Bully’ Dharry, and CABOFE welterweight champion, Simeon ‘Candyman’ Hardy, will both appear on on the undercard, with their opponents yet to be confirmed, as the GBBC is presently in talks with boxers from both Jamaica and the Dominican Republic.
Also set to appear on the card is Barbados’s Miguel Antoine, who will put his CABOFE lightweight title on the line against Trinidad and Tobago-based Guyanese and national welterweight champion Iwan Azore.
National and CABOFE Middleweight champion, Edmond De Clou, will face off with Howard ‘Battersea Bomber’ Eastman in a rematch after the former won the first encounter at the same venue when the GBBC hosted Thirst Park Explosion last October, with ticket prices for next month’s showdown set to be released shortly.