GUYANESE super bantamweight king Leon `Hurry Up’ Moore would have to wait a bit longer to get his hands on the International Boxing Organisation (IBO) title. Moore was scheduled to tackle Frenchman Karim Guerfi on April 4 in St Maarten but according to manager Seon Bristol, the fight has been shifted to May 30. The venue remains the same. “There have been some administrative issues which forced the postponement of this fight. The good thing is that both camps are happy with the new date and Leon is back to being focused and winning this event,” Bristol said in a telephone interview yesterday.

“The shift in date has done us a whole lot of good as we are now able to concentrate on specifics and not have to prepare in a hurried way. Leon is now settled and doing very well in his training at Gleason’s Gym,” Bristol declared.
Moore fought three times in 2013 but only once last year. He has racked up a record of 31 victories and three defeats and over the past three years has been campaigning in the USA. Bristol sees the upcoming encounter as a bright spot in 36-year-old fighter’s career and a chance for him to return to the world rankings.
“We are making sure that we put all ingredients in. This is an opportunity that we are grabbing with both hands since Leon’s career has been stagnant for some time. A win against Guerfi would put us back in the big league. Guerfi is a bantamweight and would be moving up to take on Leon who is a natural super bantamweight.
“I see all of this working in our favour. We have enough skills and natural ability to take this belt,” Bristol assured.
At 27, Guerfi is nine years younger than Moore. He has been defeated three times in 25 fights and was the former European bantamweight champion and the flyweight champion of France. Meanwhile, Bristol disclosed that Guyana’s first female world champion Gwendolyn `The Stealth Bomber’ O’Neil would be appearing on the same card.
O’Neil has signed to fight Sonya Lamonakis who is known in boxing circles as `The Scholar’. O’Neil will turn 46 in August and she last fought in October 2011 when she defeated Pauline London.