CBO’s Briso promotions Boxing Caribbean Showdown
WHILE not a capacity crowd, a large gathering turned out at the refurbished Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on Saturday night for the Briso Promotions/Caribbean Boxing Organisation Pro-Am Caribbean Boxing Showdown.
When the dust had settled just after 1 AM yesterday, the fans sitting in the comfort of an air-conditioned venue were thoroughly entertained by the 12 bouts of fistic fury.
The atmosphere was riveting as pulsating music emanated from the Shocking Sounds from Kitty, while the Police steel band provided added entertainment during the interval between the amateur and professional bouts.
The Card commenced with the amateur bouts, with Roopesh Balgobin beating Junior Madray in the 40kg over three rounds.
Ossis Prince failed his ‘medical’ and provided Shakquain James with a walkover in the 71kg division before Guyana’s Ken Henry stopped Zahir Tampico of Suriname in two minutes and 24 seconds of the second round of their 76 kg contest.
Travis Inverary, who was judged the best amateur pugilist, was clinical in his victory over Mordino Massie of Suriname in their 72kg matchup.
The talented Inverary executed several body shots, which followed some nice jabs to the head.
The Surinamese counterpunched with some good combinations, but Inverary was too good and won on points.
In another 76kg battle, Surinamese Chivoro Blackson used his longer reach to outbox Guyana’s Jofes Jackman, who was hurt with an uppercut and a right cross, to get a couple of standing eight counts as he tried to fight back.
In the lone female bout of the night, Guyana’s heavyweight Abiola Jackman traded blows with Angel George from Trinidad and Tobago. The pair went at each other, and Jackman was given the win. But the result could have gone either way.
In the professional card, Delon Charles won a unanimous decision over fellow Guyanese Jamal Eastman in their Junior Welterweight battle.
Surinamese Mitchell Wielson, the shorter of the two, outpunched Bajan Tyreece Taitt in a shot-filled contest to win on a unanimous verdict in their Middleweight affair.
Guyana’s Junior Welterweight Joel Williamson was all over Surinamese Damson Haslam, who failed to answer the bell for the third round, suffering from hypotension (low blood pressure).
Guyana’s Kevin Issacs beat Suriname’s Samuel Green on points, while Bajan Charles Cox unleashed a pounding on Guyana’s Quincy Gomes with a couple of right hooks, causing swelling of Gomes’ left eye.
Cox targeted the injury with telling shots to the head, resulting in the referee halting the fight in 56 seconds in the fourth round in a contest scheduled for six rounds.
The penultimate bout of the night provided the crowd, which included Guyana’s only Olympic medalist, Mike Parris, who won a bronze in the 1980 Games in Moscow, Olympian Keevin Allicock and Shondell Alfred, one of only two female Guyanese boxers to win a world title, with great entertainment.
Rasheed Williams from the Bahamas was attacked in the first stanza by Jamaican Nico Yeyo with a flurry of vicious combinations.
The Jamaican had the Bahamian on the ropes.
In the second round, the taller Williams caught Yeyo with some well-executed jabs and began to drop his guard, stick out his tongue and taunt his opponent.
He began to hit Yeyo with a few good three-shot combinations, dancing to music and looking at the crowd while throwing his punches which evoked laughter from the spectators.
By the middle of the eight-round bout, Yeyo was throwing fewer punches and employing the ‘holding’ tactic, was warned by the referee and had a point deducted.
By the sixth round, Williams started showing off some fancy footwork, which had the Sports Hall roaring.
An accidental head butt caused bleeding from Williams’s nose. But while Yeyo tried to counter punch, he was ‘hugging’ his man more often to survive.
Yeyo tried to target Williams’s nose and forced him onto the ropes in a clinch.
Yeyo went the full eight rounds but lost on the scorecards of all three judges.
The much-anticipated feature event commenced close to 1 AM, but fizzled out like a damp squib as Declou seemed reluctant to fight.
Amsterdam threw punches in bunches and staggered Declou, and after being given two eight counts, the fight was over in two minutes, 59 seconds of the opening round.
Meanwhile, it was announced that Elton Dharry will fight a boxer from Tanzania on March 28 at the Pegasus Suites in what will be the first world title bout in Guyana by a male.
Dexter Marques will match gloves with Allicock for the Guyana title.
