T&T, Barbados and Jamaica share the spoils on opening night

—bulldozing Guyanese suffer two losses
GUYANA is supposedly the `Power House’ of amateur boxing in the English speaking Caribbean, but this fact did not manifest itself on the opening night of the second edition of the Caribbean Schoolboys and Juniors’ championships which got underway on Friday evening at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue.

In fact it was Trinidad and Tobago that stole the spotlight with two victories from as many encounters, while Jamaica registered one victory from two bouts and Barbados one win from one fight in the international category.

It is the view of some boxing enthusiasts who witnessed the four international bouts from ringside including this reporter, a former amateur boxer and successful coach,that the locals – Shemar Morrison and Akeel Mounter – did not have a fight plan going up against up against opponents that are taller and have longer reach than them (Guyanese).
In the Morrison’s 63Kg (senior category) fight against Barbados’ Tevin Brewster, Morrison tried throughout the three rounds to get close to the Bajan and on many occasions tried to connect with wild combinations to Brewster’s head which was way above his (Morrison), rather than work on his opponents body which would have resulted in Brewster’s head dropping and then use the opportunity to attack the head.

In the end, Brewster was adjudged the winner by a split decision, a verdict that the small number of spectators on hand did not rant or rave over.
In the 75Kg Youth Category between Mounter who hails from the Essequibo Coast and Trinidad and Tobago’s Nickel Joseph, referee J. Bennett of St. Lucia had cause to call a halt to the proceedings at two minutes four seconds of the third round after Mounter received three standing eight-counts during the final round.
After trailing on points during the first two rounds, which saw Mounter bulldozing his way against a taller boxer who was simply doing just that – boxing – against an aggressive fighter, Mounter came out in round three looking for the `kill’ but instead, he was tagged by a series of 1-2 well executed combinations and within a 30-second period, was issued three standing eight-counts and referee Bennett called a halt to the proceedings.

In the other two international fights, Blessing Waldropt of Trinidad and Tobago earned a split decision victory over Jamaica’s Maslichi Baker in their 57Kg Junior category bout, while Baker’s countryman Jerone Enniss forced the referee to stop his 75Kg Youth Category fight against St. Lucia’s Jwevel Matty at two minutes 32 seconds of the third round.
In other results, it was all Guyanese in the Schoolboys category and the first bout on the night’s card saw Sean Graham securing a walk over win against Moses Oxford in a 32Kg contest;while Sequancy Wright won his 37Kg contest against Malichi Jones by a unanimous decision; Travis Invary won his 42Kg contest against Jakeel Cadogan by a split decision and Dwane Baptiste secured a unanimous decision win against Dwayne Castello in their 40Kg division fight.
The championships end this evening and fight time is 19:00hrs.