By Marlon Munroe
With the usual bravado and hype on show for the Shondel Alfred and Corinne De Groot world title rematch on June 5, fans should expect nothing less than a real barnburner.
‘Sexy Panther’ has already fired the first warning shots boasting that she will knock out ‘Mystery Lady’ Alfred and will not be leaving any decision to the judges, especially after she felt she had been robbed in their first fight last September.
Alfred has now retorted by saying that the former American Gladiator can say whatever she likes but she will find out on fight night how wrong her predictions are.
Alfred revealed that she has trained tirelessly for this fight and she is in “great shape going into this fight.” And now she hopes that there are no other hiccups regarding the card, referring to the almost never-ending saga during the months after the fight and then the two postponements of the bout in March and in May.
Guyana’s only holder of a world title at the moment told Stabroek Sport that she has sparred over 200 rounds so far with former Guyanese featherweight champion Joseph Murray, who stated that Alfred almost broke his nose during one of their sparring sessions. Alfred has 11 wins in her 16 fights.
“I hope this card will actually come off for the 22nd because I have been training really hard. I am looking forward to fighting on that date and if she thinks that she (De Groot) is just going to take this title without a fight that just is not going to happen; she got to work very hard for this,” Alfred declared.
She added, “I have been doing a lot of sparring, basically 10 rounds which is much more than before and I am learning a lot from Joey (Murray) although he is not a southpaw. But I am adapting and learning basic things since he is an experienced boxer.”
De Groot fights southpaw but Alfred stated positively that her camp has its plans and they will all materialise on fight night. The ‘Mystery Lady’ also acknowledged that De Groot may harbour thoughts of winning but she must not believe that such an outcome will occur especially since she (Alfred) will be defending her title with everything she has.
Murray told this newspaper that he is impressed with what he has seen with the champion, maintaining that she is in the best shape of her career. He maintained that much focus was placed on sparring to maintain stamina down the stretch and to iron out flaws that were glaring.
Having said that, he pointedly told Stabroek Sport the fight will not go the distance. He said too that sparring sessions will close on Sunday morning.
“From the last fight we know where she was lacking and what (areas) she was weak in and we are working on that at the moment. From my point of view, the fight will not go the distance this time; I ain’t see De Groot lasting the distance and with the condition Shondell will knock her out,” Murray weighed in.
Murray, who lost to ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley in 1996, also said that the objective behind the intense sparring is to ensure his fighter goes the distance even if a knockout is not forthcoming.
Meanwhile, Coach Sebert Blake said that he is pleased with the work ethic of Alfred although there were some hiccups at times. He said that she has been able to adapt quickly to the orthodox sparring partner in Murray.
On the other hand, Blake, a former amateur boxer, said that the camp is more equipped to deal with De Groot this time around. He pointed out that the use of video analysis from the last fight is also helping them with planning their programme and execution for the fight, which he thinks will go Alfred’s way.
