..Marques suffers defeat despite solid display

By Clifton Ross
EMOTIONS ran wild as Panama and Guyana went to battle on Saturday evening in front of a packed crowd, with Elton Dharry capturing the WBC International Super Flyweight title following a gruelling encounter at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.

The event saw a large turnout by Guyanese fans who welcomed the return of international boxing to the country. Among the distinguished guests were His Excellency, President Irfaan Ali; Indian High Commissioner, Dr K. Srinivasa, Minster of Sports Charles Ramson Jr; Director of Sport Steve Ninvalle; and numerous other government officials and dignitaries.

The lone upset was Dexter Marques who suffered a shock defeat to his Panamanian opponent, Gilberto Pedrosa.

The main supporting bout between the fiesty Pedrosa and crowd favorite ‘The Kid’ Marques, turned out to be an intense brawl.

From the bell, it was a tussle as the Panamanian was ultra aggressive with his flurry of punches. Marques, a more seasoned boxer, kept his opponent at bay for the majority of the rounds as he danced with guile while managing to offset Pedrosa with some excellent counterpunching.

The Kid seemed to loose his way for a few rounds following the halfway stage of the 10-round bout. A few stiff left jabs from the Panamanian seemed to reel the Guyanese. Both fighters pushed their limits and that of each other.

However, by the end of round 10, it was clear that Pedrosa was the winner by virtue of his flurry which got the better of Marques, leading to a unanimous win, which was met by genuine cheers from the Guyanese crowd.

The main bout, which looked to be hampered by rain, turned out to be a scorcher as Dharry and Penalba lit up Providence Stadium with their cosmic duel.

Dharry was methodical as usual, picking off Pedrosa by dissecting him with body shots and the occasional head touches. Not to be fazed by the systematic assault, Pedrosa, an army sergeant who went into the fight undefeated, refused to be outboxed.

By the end of round 8, Dharry had the edge, and the judges favour, as he gained tremendous momentum. Needing a miracle by virtue of a definte knock-down, Penalba was relentless after sensing an imminent defeat looming and returned fire.

He attacked Dharry without caution landing a few devastating blows to the head and some to the kidney which immediately flustered the veteran Guyanese. Both warriors staved off each other’s shots to see it all the way to round 10.

When the dust settled, the three judges decision read 97-92, 94-93, 99-92 ,to which the announcer declared Dharry the clear winner.

Following the match, flanked by Minister of Sports Charles Ramson Jr; promoters Jack Bharrat and Aleem Hussain, the new WBC champ spoke briefly to his Guyanese fans.

He said, “I performed 10 times better than what I did tonight. Everyone who knows me or has seen me in training, knows what type of performance I bring” said Dharry who followed up his statement by adding, “You have to really be at an elite level to really give me any type of trouble.”

Meanwhile, the promoters promised more exciting action for Guyanese in the future.