It might not be the size of the original Spanish Armadas which ruled the high seas, but a three-man strong Spanish contingent arrived in the country Wednesday night to do battle with their local counterparts. Headed by Manager/Coach Jose Ramon Vasquez, the team is made up of Rafael Romero and Edison Morillo, two of the best that the Dominican Republic has to offer.
They will do battle with Lennox ‘Pretty Boy’ Allen and Leon ‘Hurry Up’ Moore at the Banks DIH Thirst Park ground this Saturday October 20. Romero was in a talkative mood at the pre-fight press conference yesterday at the studios of the National Communications Network openly taunting Allen and even asking the promoter for some leeway to take it further.
He threatened to take out his frustrations from the delayed arrival in Guyana, (the boxers were scheduled to meet last week) with Allen having none of the verbal assault.
Romero said “I came here to win and ultimately God, decides but I know I came here prepared and to win. I will turn Allen into my personal punching bag,” to which the 22-year-old Guyana star retorted “I am the Pretty Boy and pretty boys don’t ever get hit.”
The verbal jousting continued with Promoter Carwyn Holland maintaining the peace while the two traded barbs with Romero promising to teach Allen a lesson and Allen saying he was out of school and promising some lessons of his own.
The other overseas fighter Edison Morillo initially called himself a man of few words but went contrary to this moments later calling his opponent Moore who was absent, a chicken for not turning up at the press conference. Their manager promised the Guyanese public a good show from his charges saying the extra week had enabled them to be better prepared to fight. Secretary of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control Trevor Arno officially anointed Allen as ‘the next big thing’ locally dubbing him “a star moving to even greater heights.”
Allen has already said he is looking past Romero to a shot at the Youth World Title which will catapult him in the international rankings.
He is also eyeing Guyana’s first World Champion Andrew ‘Six Head’ Lewis and has been calling him out in the media in recent weeks. Moore, who is ranked 7th by the World Boxing Organization and has been campaigning in Barbados, is looking to build some momentum ahead of a possible World Title crack and has already signalled his intentions of knocking out Morillo.
The fight card is the first edition of an initiative called the Caribbean Boxing Classic that hopes to showcase fighters from around the Caribbean with the major sporting networks Showtime and Home Box Office hopefully buying into the project at a later stage.
The undercard sets up to be just as exciting as the main bouts with Orlan Rogers and Dexter Marques going head-to-head over six rounds in a fight dubbed “settlement.”
The two warred about two months ago on a card by the GBBC with Marques overcoming a deep cut over his right eye to knock out Rogers. The slick Marques and the ever aggressive Rogers should put together a fight that alone might be worth the price of admission.
The first fight will see Paul Lewis jr. moving up to eat at the table with the big boys in his first ever professional fight. It will be a catch weight (two fighters from different divisions) bout against Clifton Barker who will not want to be the first notch on Lewis’s gun belt.
Throw in entertainment from local recording stars Fojo and Malo and food displays from the Ministry of Agriculture and the night’s entertainment seems set. The gates of the Thirst Park venue will open up at 6:00pm with the action getting underway at 7:00pm.
