It ended in one minute and 24 seconds of the fourth round.
That was all the time it took defending Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA) bantamweight champion, Shondell Alfred, to score a technical knockout of Corinne Van Ryck De Groot at the Princess Hotel poolside Saturday night.
The win emphatically set to rest any thoughts that Alfred’s victory against De Groot in the previous fight was controversial.
Alfred solved the De Groot mystery, connecting with a right hook to De Groot’s temple and sending her crashing onto the canvas and left her precariously entangled in the ropes.
The Canadian, while on the canvas, receiving her count from referee Andrew Thorne, tried to shake off the effects of the left right combination.
When she mustered enough energy, she got up but walked back to the neutral corner on rubberised legs, with a dazed look in her eyes to be revived by doctors even as Thorne waved the contest off.
All this time Alfred celebrated.
The win by Alfred has effectively closed the chapter of the Alfred/De Groot saga.
After posing with the President of Guyana, Bharrat Jagdeo, Alfred said, “it was great to put out such a performance in front of my home crowd and I was always convinced that I won the first fight.”
The 25-year-old added:“The De Groot page is turned, the De Droot chapter is closed. It is time for me to move on.”
There was mystery from the time the two fighters entered: De Groot, to the Black Eyed Peas title song ‘Tonight’s gonna be a good night’ and Alfred, entering last, to the Jamaican Sean Kingston’s song that opens with ‘Somebody call 911’.
In the end though the good night was all Alfred’s while the paramedics were summoned for De Groot.
From the toll of the first bell, Alfred in characteristic fashion came out firing, connecting a crisp right hand early in the first round to the head of De Groot. Alfred landed a few more punches which forced De Groot to retreat.
In the second round, southpaw De Groot started with her right jab and doubled up with her left hand/ right hand combination but not much caught the elusive Alfred, who ducked, slipped and slid. When Alfred found her opening she landed a few more power shots to the body and head before the bell tolled.
There was not much activity in the third, that is, until Alfred connected with a solid uppercut to the kitchen of De Groot, who winced in pain. Alfred smiled as she walked back to her corner as if sensing the end was near.
Her instincts were spot on. Alfred landed two crisp left jabs then was elusive again as De Groot looked for an opening but found none.
And then Alfred launched her final attack. With De Groot retreating, Alfred landed a left hook and then doubled up with the right that sent De Groot to `Destination Canvas’ and the crowd on its feet with “oos and ahs”.
The frenzy outside of the ring for the main supporting bout went on until the main event started.
‘Deadly’ Denny Dalton was everything but deadly.
For most of the fight it appeared as if his right hand was too much of a burden for him to bear. Hector ‘Machito’ Camacho toyed with Dalton on his way to a unanimous victory.
From the first bell to the last Camacho controlled the pace of the fight. The Puerto Rican used the jab with great effect to set up the power shots with his left hand. Dalton was content to hold on and punch behind the head until he had a point deducted in the fifth round.
Camacho, on the other hand, systematically chopped Dalton down from the midsection. Dalton failed to adapt to the style of Camacho, who was faster, stronger and more technically correct. Camacho took some of Dalton’s best punches and invited the Guyanese to come with more.
Oftentimes in the latter rounds Camacho put his hands on the ring and enticed Dalton to take a swing. Dalton just stood and looked. In the end judges Ryan Wissow, Lionel B. Sullivan and Trevor Arno scored the contest 98-91 in favour of Camacho Jr., who also walked away with the vacant World Boxing Foundation Intercontinental middleweight title.
Gwendolyn ‘Stealth Bomber’ O’Neil did not explode on Veronica Blackman as she had promised to in the days leading up to the contest. While O’Neil landed the harder shots, the fight was an exhibition in lethargy.
Both fighters seemed spent from the first round with O’Neil proving to be the better conditioned of the two heavyweights. Both fighters’ punches were telegraphed and lacked sting from the long range however, when the Stealth Bomber was in close quarters she was more effective with her short hand jabs and stiff uppercuts.
O’Neil by virtue of experience in the fight game and a better technique established dominance over Blackman, who was tattooed with shots at every given opportunity. She landed a few good punches of her own but these were few and far between.
The judges scored that fight 96-94, 98-98 and 98-92 for O’Neil as she added WIBA heavyweight title of the world and the Global Boxing Union (GBU) title to her collection.
In the curtain raiser Elton ‘The Real Coolie Bully’ Dharry boxed his way to a unanimous decision win over Orlon ‘Pocket Rocket’ Rogers.
As is characteristic with Rogers, he rushed Dharry and was constantly hit as the overseas boxer piled on the points.
And in an amateur bout, junior Commonwealth silver medallist Clevlon Rock defeated Republican boxer Nandkumar Singh in a tactical display of boxing.
