President of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) Peter Abdool, in retrospect, believes that the monthly Friday Night Fights were a success but he said this year the board will be upping the ante to improve the career of its boxers.
Abdool was yesterday speaking at the contract signing for the first Pro-Am boxing card, which is scheduled for January 28 at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH), at the Abdool & Abdool Insurance Brokers boardroom. Abdool, who is also the Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE) president, stated yesterday that after a meeting with the coaches that the GBBC felt it was important to structure a plan that would benefit the boxers.
With this plan however, the GBBC requires the boxers’ unwavering discipline and commitment. For Abdool, this new undertaking is twofold and the boxers and the board alike must hold their end if the fistic sport is to improve in every aspect.
Abdool stated that the FNF was the first part of the puzzle and the GBBC now will be liaising with coaches to ensure that fighters are in the gym before fights are offered to them. According to Abdool the GBBC and coaches have recognised the immense talent of some of the pugilists and therefore it would ill-advised to put them into fights at short notice.
Abdool emphasised that this will not be an ad hoc but rather a structured system for success. “We have also asked coaches to identify to us and we (GBBC) will be reviewing the tapes of chosen fighters and charter a course for him/her to ensure they have a long term career”, Abdool posited.
“We are not in the process of creating journeymen in our boxers. We want them to build their records and boost their careers. The board will endeavour to make boxers fight for world titles and we will be taking a more considered approach in the lives and careers of the boxers,” the president noted.
It is the vision of the GBBC to see less “mismatches” according to Abdool while imploring the fighters to “commit yourself to your craft.”
At this point he referred to the lightweight Mark Austin, one of standout boxers of the Pro-Am cards.
Austin has fought five times and has four wins and a draw coming against former amateur champion Clive Atwell. Abdool indicated that Austin has the talent and skill to become a world-rated fighter and said that the board was going to ensure that the fighter breaks into the World Boxing Council (WBC) top 20.
He noted that this will happen if fighters continue to build their records and churn out impressive performances for the key stakeholders to see especially since the GBBC will be launching its website next month. This website will enable promoters and coaches from abroad to see clips of local fighters in action and the process of setting up bigger opportunities for the fighters can start.
Meanwhile, Austin, who last defeated Revlon Lake by a unanimous decision in October of last year, will be going up against Jermaine King in the four-round main event on January 28. King has lost both of his professional fights – one to Cecil Smith in his debut and the other to Kelvin Diaz December of 2009. In the night’s opening bout journeyman Winston Pompey, who has only won three of his 10 bouts, will fight another promising young fighter in Edmond Declou in a super middleweight contest. Pompey, after beating Troy Lewis in 2006, lost his next six fights before defeating Eversley Brown in 2009 and subsequently losing to Nigel Edwards in Trinidad and Tobago later that year.
Declou, on the other hand, has one blemish in his four-fight career, which came against Kwesi Jones in a rematch last year. His last fight was a split decision win against Joel Mc Rae in last month’s FNF card.
In the ladies’ contest Veronica Blackman will trade punches with Pauline London.
In the remaining fight, Anthony Augustin will challenge Kurt Bess, who has had a rough baptism to his professional career. He lost his first four profession fights before beating former Guyanese heavyweight champion Mitchell Rogers and then Leon ‘The Lion’ Gilkes last year.
