ON a night in which thunderstorms were forecast, the rains God allowed Elton Dharry to notch his name into Guyana’s Boxing history when he beat Salim Kassim of Tanzania.
The first male World Title fight on local soil saw Dharry become the eighth Guyanese, fighting under the Golden Arrow Head, to win a World Title.
The 40-year-old showed that experience can overcome youth when he earned a unanimous decision over a 22-year-old in the wee hours of yesterday morning to take the International Boxing Organisation (IBO) Super Bantamweight title at the Pegasus Suites on the GBBC and Briso Promotions ‘Lion and the Bull’ Card that lived up to all the hype.
Fighting out of the Gleason Boxing Gym in Brooklyn, Dharry improved his ‘Pro’ record to 33 fights, 26 wins 15 Kos, six losses and a draw while the African pugilist suffered his first defeat in a 14-bout career[r1.1] that began in 2023.
Watched by a capacity crowd, which included several prominent Guyanese, members of the Government, and President Irfaan Ali, Dharry and Kassim provided plenty of entertainment in a gruelling contest which went the full 12 rounds.
After a first round of ‘feeling out’ each other, Dharry was caught with a wicked right which sent him to the canvas to the dismay of the raucous partisan crowd…and the Guyanese, who waited almost seven years for a second shot at a World title after his loss in Australia, knew he was in for a fight.

Dharry got up after receiving an 8-count and fought back with some good combinations to the head and body, but Kassim counterpunched towards the end of an enthralling round.
The third round saw a clash of heads, which resulted in Kassin requiring medical attention for the swelling over his right eye.
Dharry closed round 5 with some good body shots, followed by a crunching right hook that staggered Kassim, who was saved by the bell.
At the halfway stage, Kassim, with hopes of being the first man from his Country to win a world title, seemed to find his second wind and began dancing out of range of Dharry’s punches. This tactic caused some spectators to scream, “Like you need running shoes?
As the eighth stanza commenced, Kassim was on his bicycle, but Dharry caught him on the ropes with brutal uppercuts to the mid-section, but the young African showed lots of intestinal fortitude and refused to go down.
By the 10th round, Dharry, 18 years older than Kassim, was beginning to tire. He was caught with a straight right from the southpaw on his nose bridge, which resulted in bleeding.
Dharry retaliated with a right cross that rocked Kassim’s head back as he stumbled to the ropes. Kassim tried to counter-attack but missed with some big swings.
In the penultimate round, Kassim, who weighed in at 121.6 to Dharry’s 122, hit Dharry with shots to the body but failed to hurt him.
The least punches in the fight were thrown in the final round despite the chatting off ‘Dharry, Dharry’ urging Dharry to push for a knock-out.
But Kassim, would go the full distance with the fighter from the Island of Leguan in the Essequibo River.
In the undercard for the National Featherweight title, the 39-year-old Dexter Marques tried to use his vast experience against two-time Olympian 26-year-old Keevin Allicock but despite Marques’ ploy of tying his man up, Allicock was too fast for Marques.
The fight was arguable prematurely stopped by the ring doctor due to cut over right eye in 1:10 seconds of the fifth round.
In the opening round, Allicock threw more punches than Marques who tried to counter punch and had his moments in the longest fight in Allicock’s fledging professional career.
The fight showed why Allicock is rated as the best Amateur pugilist in the Caribbean with his fast hands, clinical jabs and excellent ring craftsmanship.
However, it also showed up his inability to properly ‘time’ his knock-out punch.
Allicock delivered punches in bunches to Marques in a clinical display of skill. A right to the head stopped the fight even as Marques protested the decision as Allicock remained unbeaten in his four fights.
Desmond Amsterdam was brutal in his destruction of Jamaican Kevin Hylton in their Super Middleweight clash to take his record to three first-round knock outs in his three fights. His fight scheduled for six rounds, was over in 2:1 second of the first round.
The other professional fight of the night saw lightweights Richard Howard Jnr and Septon Barton putting on an impressive display on debut over four rounds.
In the Amateur fights, Imotex Vanderstoop beat Richard DaSilva, Itavius Vanderstoop beat Josh Chestier, Joyner Madray beat Travolta Harris and Jofes Jackman beat Oasis Prince.
In a moment of humour, Ring Announcer and Standup Comedian ‘Chow Pow’ invited ‘Doggie’ (with full boxing robe) and called for ‘Guyana Critic’ before declaring ‘Doggie’ the winner by Walkover. This evoked peals of laughter from those present including President Ali.