Guyanese ‘Deadly’ Denny Dalton will headline the Briso Promotions card at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut, USA on May 7 against Puerto Rico’s Hector Camacho Jr for the vacant World Boxing Federation Intercontinental middleweight title.
Dalton, who has a professional record of 16 victories (11 KOs) with eight losses and a draw, will be looking to shake off the defeats in his last two fights against the now imprisoned Howard Eastman and Trinidad & Tobago’s Kevin Placide. However, this may prove to be a Herculean task against the seasoned Camacho, who has 51 victories from 56 fights.
Stabroek Sport has learnt from a source that Dalton has not yet received his US visa but is sure that it will be granted before fight night. The source pointed out that he is sure the former WBC Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE) light middleweight and Guyana’s light middleweight champion will get the visa because he fought many times outside of Guyana and he is a legitimate athlete.
Dalton has fought in Canada, the United Kingdom and Trinidad & Tobago.
Meanwhile, his compatriots Gwendolyn ‘Stealth Bomber’
O’Neil, Guyana’s first female world champion, will be trading blows with USA’s Crystal Davis for the vacant WIBA heavyweight title in the main supporting bout. In addition USBA light middleweight champion Raul Frank will duke it out with Dave Saunders.
Owner of Briso Promotions and Promoter of the card, former amateur champion Seon Bristol told this publication that he is currently attempting to get opponents for Lennox ‘Too Sharp’ Allen and Elton ‘The Real Coolie Bully’ Dharry and this is proving quite problematic.
Apart from the Guyanese, Melissa Hernandez of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic’s Cassy Hernandez will fight for the WIBA super featherweight title.
Meanwhile, Bristol revealed that Briso Promotion and the Foxwoods Resort Casino have entered into an agreement for a long-term arrangement with the aim of benefiting Guyanese fighters at home and abroad. Stabroek Sport also learnt that this long-term arrangement can be further concretised based on the support given to the card, which will feature mostly Guyanese.
In a telephone interview, Bristol he said the partnership was brokered because a representative of Foxwoods, Don Lewis, was impressed with the way business was conducted by Briso Promotions.
Bristol, who holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Organisational Management, said that this is one of his biggest promotions to date and the main objective is to promote Guyanese talent and ultimately Guyana.
He maintained that the only way this will be possible is if the best fighters perform on quality cards against quality fighters at some of the best arenas; these factors were considered when the contract was drafted between Foxwoods and Briso Promot-ions.
The card is a strategic marketing venture for Guyanese pugilists and the hope is also to one day bring the same quality promotions and bouts back to Guyana according to Bristol.
Bristol, who narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, said he is also looking to share with local boxing promoters some of the ingredients needed to promote an international card. He envisions his promotional savvy taking flight and Guyanese having something to be proud about.
“Promotion of Guyana and its immense boxing talent cannot be over emphasised especially since the sky is the limit,” Bristol said.
Bristol intends for his label to become as much a household name as Don King Promotions, Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions and Bob Arum’s Top Rank. He estimated that this fight card is the biggest promotion by a Guyanese in the USA and he wants people in the Diaspora to support the event especially “since it is marketing all of us”.
