Joel Mc Rae had his axe used against him when he fought Edmond De Clou while Orlon ‘Pocket Rocket’ Rogers snapped his eight-fight losing streak against Barbadian Selwyn Lett in the 17th edition of the Friday Night Fights at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on Friday evening.
Mc Rae had said at the pre-fight press conference that any tree can be cut down but little did he know that De Clou was going to carve out a unanimous decision victory over him.
By the end of the 10th frame the judges had the fight scored at 99-91, 99-91, 98-92.
De Clou, who hails from Linden, landed at will on the Trinidad based Mc Rae.
In the other professional bouts Rogers won 40-36 on all three of the judges’ card against Lett; a chiseled Kwesi Jones, shook off his loss in his last fight against Lennox ‘Too Sharp’ Allen, to beat Anthony Augustine in their catchweight bout and Barbados’ Miguel Antoine produced a clinical performance to get the better of Guyanese Cassius Matthews.
The feature contest started with both fighters exchanging punches but it panned out into a one-sided affair after De Clou’s punches landed with more telling effect. He also utilized the uppercut often which also reaped dividends.
This trend continued for the rest of the bout and while Mc Rae landed a few solid punches, he was for the most part too defensive. The 24-year-old De Clou will now await the challenge of Allen for a shot at the super middleweight title.
In the opening professional fight, Rogers tasted victory since he beat Mark Fernandes in 2005. The journeyman used his experience by sticking and moving and this eventually wore his opponent down. Being the shorter of the two fighters, Rogers was able to attack the upper body with consistency and though Lett had a longer reach, he was often forced on the defensive with the always advancing Rogers.
In the welterweight contest clash, Antoine dominated the usually evasive Matthews as the judges scored the bout 42-36, 42-36, 39-37. Antoine was by far the more skilful fighter which resulted in Matthews holding on to survive.
Matthews was dazed by the expiration of the fight while ‘Hands of Steel’ Antoine looked fresh.
The catchweight contest between Jones and Augustine was a mismatch. Augustine, who seemed to have lost his way after he was defeated by Kurt Bess, was pudgy and looked grossly ill prepared for the fight that should have been against Julian Tannis of Barbados.
Jones showed the sort of ring savvy that was evident against Allen and totally dominated the heavier Augustin. And although Augustin enjoyed brief moments of glory, Jones made the work easy for the Judges.
Caption: Edmond De Clou (left) and Joel Mc Rae exchanged punches in the middle of the ring on Friday night. (Orlando Charles photo)
