– Says Shondell `Mystery Lady’ Alfred
“Corinne might be an American Gladiator but I am a Guyanese fighter.”
That simple statement uttered by Shondell Alfred yesterday sums up the fight between Alfred and Corinne de Groot for the vacant Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA) bantamweight title.
Yesterday, the studios of the National Communication Network (NCN) were filled with harsh words which came from the mouths of the fighters headlining the bouts for tomorrow’s Caribbean Fury Promotions at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
DeGroot, born in Canada to Guyanese parents is an American Gladiator by profession and also an ex-police officer and when asked by Stabroek Sport if she would use her professional background to judge the outcome of the fight, DeGroot said… “Yes, but this is boxing.
“Yes, I’m an American Gladiator and I was a police officer, but my passion is and will always be in boxing, this is where my heart is.
“So yes, I think that because of my job, which is a bit more male dominated, it makes me a bit tougher I think but this is boxing and I respect all boxers because I know what it takes to prepare for a fight and so on, so it will be a great fight,” DeGroot declared.
But Alfred told the studio which was filled with boxing enthusiast from as far as Thailand who came down for the fight, that not only was she a fighter she was also not a woman of much words and come tomorrow she would let her fists do the talking.
“You know, Corrine might be an American Gladiator, but I’m a Guyanese fighter…This fight means a lot to me. The day when Carwyn (Holland) called me about it, I called my coach and we took it right away because we all knew how much I wanted it. Words right now can’t really explain how much I want to fight so I will let my fists do the talking,” Alfred said.
But De Groot responded: “Look I am what I am but I’m also undefeated in 11 fights. I don’t know much about her and I’m not much of a talker as well so come the 26th, I’ll just let my fists do the talking.”
De Groot is ranked number four by the International Women’s Boxing Federation (IWBF) as of September 2002, number four by the International Female Boxers Association (IFBA) as of August 2002, number two by the WIBA as of September 2002 and number two by the Women’s Boxing Page website.
She has a perfect record at 11 fights, winning five of those by knock outs.
The 27-year-old Alfred has fought 15 times since turning professional in 1999 and has tasted victory 10 times, three of which she won by a technical knockout (TKO).
She has suffered five losses so far.
The ‘Mystery Lady’s’ highlight in the sport came when she won the WIBA Iberian-American bantamweight title in 2004 by beating Trinidadian Vicki Boodram in the twin-island republic.
Meanwhile, in the Super bantamweight clash both Pastrana and Moore predicted that they will come out on top and even though a draw is possible, their clash has too much at stake.
The two will be touching gloves for the vacant NABA, WBC Continental Americas and CABOFE bantamweight titles as well as the WBA Fedelatin and Fedecaribe super bantamweight titles.
“There is going be a new champion on Saturday and that’s going to be me,” Pastrana boasted.
But Moore said he begged to differ.
“I wanted to fight a Colombian again for a long time and I would not loose in my back yard,” he said in reference to his litigious loss to Irene Pacheco in 2006 for the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) Inter-Continental title.
“Pastrana will have a rough going on Saturday,” Moore said adding… to see you in the ring.”
But the Colombian and his manager/Trainer Nelson Lopez seemed all booming confidence and they both made it clear that this would be the ultimate fight for Leon Moore. Also present yesterday was Minister of Sport Dr. Frank Anthony who lauded the promoters for putting a card together which will give Guyana a chance to gain more prominence in the world.
He then pledged his ministry and government’s support to the sport of boxing.
Promoter Stanford Solomon said he believed that this was one of the better cards ever promoted and thanked corporate Guyana for giving him the support.
He however stressed that they were still far from where they should be in terms of sponsorship and would welcome anyone who wanted to come onboard.
