By Faizool Deo

GUYANA and Trinidad & Tobago won a gold medal each on Friday night to punch off the international bouts of the Winfield Braithwaite Caribbean Schoolboys and Juniors Boxing Tournament, which is currently underway at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

Local boxers were involved in all six of the opening night’s fights, but the home team split their wins in the final two bouts, which were against pugilists from Barbados and Trinidad & Tobago.

Against Barbados, Guyana’s Mark Crawford registered a comprehensive victory in the Light Welterweight (60-63kg) battle to win gold against Tyree Taitt, while in the Light Flyweight (46-48kg) Schoolboys’ bout Trinidadian Al Jaleel Jokhu won a split decision against Guyanese Wayne Castello.

Although Crawford was the winner on all five of the judges’ scorecards, he almost undermined his efforts with a plethora of shots in the first round, which initially spent his energy. Fortunately, he recomposed himself in the second round and delivered some good combination punches.

Castello looked to give Guyana a clean sweep of wins in the feature clash of the evening but although he put together a good first round, his opponent was able to weather the storm and bounce back with some good counterpunches and a few nice combinations, which eventually earned him the fight.

His coach, former Olympian Kirt Sinette told Chronicle Sport that the 14-year-old boxer from South Trinidad delivered in his bout.

“I personally believe that he dug deep and scored cleaner shots.”

Prior to the international bouts, Guyanese boxers were involved in four fights against each other.

The night started off with a win for southpaw Sean Graham over Malachi Jones. The shorter Graham used his speed, determination and footwork to undermine his opponent. He gained valuable points with several body shots in the bout.

In the second clash, a solid first round from Jaqwan Milo resulted in a dominant performance against Jeron McKenzie. Milo, who threw a barrage of shots, connected with a hard straight right in round one, which resulted in a standing eight-count.

Although McKenzie started the second round aggressively, he could not keep up the pace and eventually the punching power of the 14-year-old East Ruimveldt boxer Milo derailed his attempts.

After Milo’s victory, 12-year-old Joshua Thombarran got past Thierry Moore and in a more calculated bout, Sherlon Stephen got the better of Shemar Morrison.

The tournament, which includes boxers from seven nations including Guyana, was expected to continue last evening before concluding tonight.