By Marlon Munroe
What was organised as just a press briefing to announce plans for the fourth edition of the Pro Am boxing card turned out to be a war of words between national welterweight champion Iwan Azore and Troy Lewis.
The two fighters, who will clash tomorrow in the main event of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control/Guyana Amateur Boxing Association ProAm card, exchanged verbal blows after they were grilled at National Communication Network (NCN) during a press conference Tuesday.
Lewis, who is currently unbeaten on the Friday Night Fights schedule, started the initial barrage when he stated that the welterweight champion “was just another fighter”.
He urged patrons to come out in their numbers to the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) on fight night and witness the fate that lies ahead for the current champion. Lewis, who recorded the fastest knockout on the Pro Am collaboration since its inauguration last February, stated emphatically that Azore’s reign will be curtailed tomorrow.
Azore, who has lost thrice and drew once in his 17 fights (13 wins), remained stoic stating that he is not one to say much. However, he stated that he is not considering Lewis a challenge but rather he is looking forward to fighting Kevin Placide of Trinidad & Tobago for the CABOFFE title that Placide won last month. The T&T-based fighter said that he has seen Lewis fight and there is no challenge to be presented by him. He emphasised that he is looking to move his career forward and one way of doing this is to fight Placide and other fights that will bring him the requisite recognition. Meanwhile, Shawn Pile, who was scheduled to fight Orlon ‘Pocket Rocket’ Rogers, will now be challenging Clifton Barker in the first professional fight of the night while Kwinda Rogers, who replaced Veronica Blackman that will now, be fighting Gwendolyn O’Neil on June 5 will take on Sharon Warde in a super middleweight encounter. Rising middleweight pugilist Kwesi Jones will be doing battle with Rastafarian Eversley Brown in the main supporting bout of the night.
In the amateur ranks that have provided most of the excitement since the first Pro Am card will see national featherweight champion Ray Sandiford fighting national novices champion and best overall boxer Nankumar Singh in the main supporting fight of the amateur portion of the card. According to Vice President of the GABA Maurice Rajkumar this fight will produce fireworks.
This fight has been brewing for some time now and it will be the fittest time for the two to clash especially since the GABA has the featherweight champion as its third pick for the Central America and Caribbean championships in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico from July 22-28. Further, much is also expected from Guyana Defence Force’s boxer Devon Boatswain who will be challenging nemesis Dennis Thomas, of Harpy Eagles. Boatswain, who has also been shortlisted on the GABA six-man team to the CAC Games, will be involved in a four round clash with Thomas, who will be going into the contest with a defeat to Boatswain. Troy Billey will have to prove his worth against Dexter Wray while Laurel Stewart will be taking on George Anthony in the first two fights of the amateur card. President of GBBC Peter Abdool echoed that this will be an entertaining card and said that as the Friday night fight card progresses they are getting better.
