– after late signing of contract by ‘Sexy Panther’
By Marlon Munroe
The saga that followed the Shondell Alfred/Corrine Van Ryck De Groot world title fight last year continues with the postponement of the May 1 rematch until a tentative date in late May.
The rematch, which was scheduled for the Princess Hotel poolside, will either be held on May 22 or 29 according to promoter of the fight Odinga Lumumba of Mc Neal Enterprise. When Stabroek Sport spoke to Lumumba yesterday he said the bout was postponed mainly because of the late signing of the contract by the Canadian De Groot. He also pointed out that the bantamweight contest would have clashed with the Floyd Mayweather/Shane Mosley fight for the WBA Super World welterweight title in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on May 1 and the Hugh Ross Bodybuilding Classic on May 2 at the National Cultural Centre.
Lumumba said there was a breakdown of communication with the ‘Sexy Panther’ De Groot, who he said took some time to actually sign the contract. When ‘Mystery Lady’ Alfred had signed her contract on March 25, Lumumba and President of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) Peter Abdool indicated then that De Groot’s contract would have been mailed shortly after.
From all indications the contract was sent in a timely manner but De Groot only added her ‘John Hancock’ to the document last week. Lumumba suggested that the breakdown in communication was because of De Groot’s residency in Canada.
Yesterday Abdool also confirmed that the document was signed and he had subsequently seen it. He pointed out also that up to the time he saw the contract from De Groot, the fight’s materialization was in jeopardy because they were unsure of what the status was with De Groot’s camp.
On the other hand, Alfred had earlier in the week threatened to abort the fight because she had not received promised funds from Lumumba. When Stabroek Sport enquired about this issue yesterday, Lumumba said he was not obligated to pay Alfred anything if De Groot had not affixed her signature to the contract.
However, he said that Alfred will receive her money now that De Groot has signed her contract.
Meanwhile, Lumumba has apparently penned a letter to the GBBC president requesting that the governing body not hold any card close to the proposed dates (May 22 or 29) of the world title fight. In the letter that was delivered to this publication by an anonymous person, Lumumba proposed to the GBBC, that no card be set for a minimum of a week before or after his proposed dates.
In another portion of the letter Lumumba wrote: “These conditions must also include no public advertisement by the Guyana Boxing Board for its fights as relates to radio and television for a minimum of seven days before the Mc Neal Enterprise fight card.”
When Lumumba was asked how the GBBC had received the letter and what was the reasoning behind it, an answer was not forthcoming. Alfred had gained a unanimous decision over De Groot last September in Guyana, lifting the vacant WIBA bantamweight title. Subsequently, there was talk about Guyana’s seventh world champion losing her title if a rematch was not granted in 120 days to De Groot, who felt she had won the fight.
When this did not happen, President of the Women’s In-ternational Box-ing Association (WIBA) Ryan Wissow intervened and ordered the rematch. An unprecedented was purse bid was conducted in Guyana among promoters Lumumba, Carwyn Holland and Stanford Solomon which Lumumba eventually won.
Wissow had told this publication in response to a question that a price floor of US$7,000 was stipulated with 60 per cent of the final agreed figure going to the champion.