SATURDAY June 5 will be a big day on the calendar for Princess Hotel when the venue hosts three title fights under the Briso Promotions, headed by former national pugilist Seon Bristol.
Guyana’s first female boxing champion Gwendolyn ‘Stealth Bomber’ O’Neil will seek to become a world champion once again, when she faces up to her very own Veronica Blackman for the vacant Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA) heavyweight title.‘Deadly’ Denny Dalton will face up against Hector ‘Macho’ Camacho Jr, the son of world renowned pugilist Hector ‘Macho’ Camacho for the World Boxing Foundation (WBF) super-welterweight title.
The final title bout on the card is the the much-anticipated rematch between Shondell ‘Mystery Lady’ Alfred and her Canadian opponent in Corinne Van Ryck DeGroot for Alfred’s WIBA bantamweight title.
Apart from the three world title fights, Elton ‘Coolie Bully’ Dharry will match gloves with Orlon ‘Pocket Rocket’ Rogers in another much-anticipated rematch, since the latter is claiming he was under the weather when he lost in the first stanza.
Two amateur bouts are also set, with opponents yet to be identified for Ray Sandiford and Nandkumar Singh, two of the hottest amateur fighters on the local circuit today.
According to president of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) Peter Abdool, head of McNeal Enterprise, Odinga Lumumba, who was championing  the cause to promote the bout between Alfred and DeGroot, is no longer in a position to do so and was pleased that Bristol stepped in.
“From a letter signed by Lumumba, it is clear that he is upset that he is not hosting the much-anticipated and hyped-up rematch between Alfred and DeGroot and has listed his regrets, but is pleased to know that same will go ahead, thanks to Briso Promotions.
“Added to that, the Princess Hotel has played a major role in the staging of this card, when they allowed us the privilege to use the hotel as the venue. As you are aware, major fights are being housed in hotels that have the capacity to do so and with Princess Hotel coming on board, this is a tremendous boost for boxing here in Guyana.”
The World Boxing Council (WBC)/Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE) president further stated that while they will not be shying away from the National Park and the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, the addition of Princess Hotel is encouraging to bring WBC/CABOFE title fights to Guyana, something he intends to do in the not-too-distant future.
The interesting thing about the Dalton/Camacho Jr match-up is that the latter decided to bring the fight to the former, who found it difficult to get a visa to the United States of America.
“The contracts were still outstanding and when Camacho Jr heard about Dalton’s inability to obtain a visa to face him in the USA, he decided to come to Guyana to face him, hence the match-up in two weeks time,” stated Abdool.
While no official sponsor has been identified for the card, Abdool said he was certain companies such as Digicel, COURTS (Guyana) Inc., GUYOIL and Ansa McAl would join forces with both the GBBC and Briso Promotions on this venture.
“The promoters are looking to bring an action-packed card to the boxing fans and from my point of view, not as president of the GBBC, but an ardent boxing fan, this card is an action-packed one when looked at closely.
We have already received a commitment from certain Government ministries, such as the Ministry of Tourism who has promised to incorporate this card on its calendar of events for the month and with the venue being able to accommodate approximately 2 000 persons, tickets which are expected to go on sale from next Wednesday, will certainly be on a first come, first served basis.”
General Manager of Princess Hotel, Muharrem Kulekci, said his hotel was delighted to be associated with this event, as they view it as a way of getting involved in the sporting fraternity here in Guyana.
Meanwhile, Alfred said she is very confident she will retain her title, as she knows what to expect from DeGroot for the first two rounds and while DeGroot had a lot of talks a few days ago, come June 5 all that will be brought to naught.
Her (Alfred’s) coach and former WBC FECABOX champion Joseph Murray said his charge is ready and raring to go.
“We have reduced her training schedule as we don’t wish to overwork her, as that would reduce her strength. She has had a few days off, but now is back and fitter than even when she first fought DeGroot and nothing but a victory can be expected in two weeks time.”
DeGroot, whose only loss in her 12 bouts came at the hands of Alfred, and Camacho Jr who boasts a record of 51-3-1 with 28 of his wins coming by way of knockout, are both expected in Guyana on June 2 and 3 respectively.