THE Guyanese pugilists won their fights against their overseas opponents when the curtains came down in the wee hours of the morning on Sunday, as International Boxing returned to the refurbished Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

The event was promoted by Mike Goberdhan, Pinegrove Promotions, Elton Dharry and Nex Gen Promotions and sanctioned by the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) and the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA).

The super-fight card included nine bouts and a fashion show during the break between the four amateur bouts and the five professional fights.
The Card, which included a female contest, was sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport, Ramchand’s Auto, Pine Grove Inn Steak and Seafood Restaurant, and Super Bet Guyana.
A fair-sized gathering, which included National Squash players, while Mike Parris, who celebrated the 45th Anniversary of winning Guyana’s only Olympic medal with a fitness walk yesterday, was among several former Boxing Champions who were entertained by music from the Daks New Generation sound system.

Director of Sport and GBA President Steve Ninvalle, and Minister of Communications Kwame McCoy, were also among the vocal crowd. Chow Pow made his debut as Ring Announcer and did a good job.

In the feature bout, 39-year-old former Guyana National, IBF Intercontinental bantamweight and the WBA Fedecentro super-flyweight Champion, Guyana-born USA-based Elton Dharry, was taken the full eight rounds in a close fight against Roger Saldana in their Super Flyweight clash.

In the end, Dharry took his record to Total fights 34 fights, 27 wins with six defeats and a draw by a unanimous decision.
However, scores from the three judges did not truly reflect how close the fight was.

Saldana caught Dharry with some good shots in the opening round, and was the busier of the two boxers.
Although Dharry retaliated with some well-executed jabs, the Colombian continued coming forward. After four rounds, he had thrown more punches.
Round Five was the best round for Dharry, who hails from the island of Leguan on the Essequibo River.

Saldana, who was saved by the bell, demonstrated an aggressive style, but was backed up against the ropes by Dharry, who executed some telling combinations to the body and head.
In the penultimate round, Dharry caught his man with a clinical upper cut, but the Colombian counter-attacked as the pair traded blows.
In the final round, both fighters maintained the intensity, despite being tired, but Dharry, bleeding from a cut just above his right eye, did just enough to win the contest.
“I expected a hard fight, since boxers from Latin America are usually tough fighters. I hope to fight for a world title in November in Guyana,” disclosed Dharry, the first boxer to win a world title on Guyana’s soil.

The main supporting bout was a one-sided affair, as two-time Olympian Keevin Allicock used Omar Cuello as a punching bag.
Eighteen seconds into the fifth round, Cuello’s corner decided he had taken enough punishment and threw in the towel, as Allicock remained unbeaten in his short professional career.

At 40, Dexter Marques showed that age is just a number, and drew heavily on his experience of 23 fights to knock out Sammy Ramos in 44 seconds of the fifth round of their featherweight bout, taking his record to 19 wins and four losses.

Marques got hit a few times in the first round, but fought back towards the end of the first stanza, as Ramos won the round.
The second saw both boxers trading punches, and Ramos being hit with a wicked right to the midsection. But Ramos, like most Latin American fighters, shook it off and just kept going.
Both fighters went at each other, but as they began to tire, they employed ‘tying-up’ tactics.

Ramos was hit by a flurry of shots and staggered on the ropes, but refused to quit.

In the fifth round, a vicious right cross connected just below Ramson’s heart, flooring him in 44 seconds of the round, and despite his having the heart of a lion, he could not get up.
Desmond Amsterdam had an auspicious professional debut, knocking Romeo Norville to the canvas in 1:10 seconds in the opening round of their four-round catch-weight fight.

In the other professional bout on the Card, Edmond Declou from Linden, and Guyanese-born Barbadian Charwin Estwick were engaged in battle for the vacant National Super Middleweight title over 10 rounds.

The taller Declou was having the better of Estwick when an accidental clash of heads opened a cut on Estwick’s face.
This caused the doctor to stop the contest in the fourth round. The fight ended in a no-contest.
In the Amateur bouts:

Josh Chester beat Itavius Vanderstoop in the Featherweight division.
Ryan Roger beat Curtis McDonald in the Lightweight division Terron Wintz beat Justice Joseph of St. Lucia in the Junior Welterweight division.
Abiola Jackman beat Merlicia Durham in the Heavyweight division.