By Emmerson Campbell
The 20th edition of the Guyana Fight Night Pro Am card this Friday night could be of one of the most meaningful boxing events ever in the history of boxing in Guyana and the Caribbean.
In the headline bout of the card which will be held at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH), Simeon ‘Candy Man’ Hardy and Iwan ‘Pure Gold’ Azore will fight for the coveted WBC Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE) welterweight (147lbs) title.
CABOFE titles have been fought for in Guyana before, so why is this one so important?
Last year December in Las Vegas, the WBC Board of Governors, on which CABOFE is represented by its President, Peter Abdool, formally ratified and announced the WBC CUP, in celebration of the WBC’s 50th anniversary in 2012.
The tournament offers a tremendous opportunity for the young champions of each of the WBC’s confederations, including CABOFE, as it will be in conjunction with a major U.S. television network. The WBC Cup will feature the champions of the 10 WBC confederations competing against each other to establish an overall champion in each of eight selected divisions.
These divisions are flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight, super lightweight, welterweight, middleweight and heavyweight.
The tournament, which will last 40 weeks, will begin in May and the winners of each division will be awarded US$250,000 (50 million Guyana dollars).
The Cup is one of the biggest and most ambitious programmes of the WBC in almost 50 years, and the TV network will select from only 5 to 7 cities in the world to present the bouts.
The winner of this fight whether it is Hardy or Azore, will become the WBC CABOFE welterweight champion. This means that when the WBC Cup begins in May, local CABOFE champions, either Hardy or Azore, will have to defend their titles against the champion of the nine other confederations.
These confederations include the Oriental & Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF), European Boxing Union (EBU), Asian Boxing Council (ABCO), African Boxing Union (ABU), Central American Boxing Federation (FECARBOX), CIS and Slovenian Boxing Bureau (CISBB), South American Boxing Federation (FESUBOX), North American Boxing Federation (NABF) and the British Boxing Board of Control (BBB of C)
The earnings for the very first fight in the opening round of the competition may be in the vicinity of US$15,000 (three million Guyana dollars) to US$30,000 (six million Guyana dollars) for the loser and in the vicinity of US$50,000 (10 million Guyana Dollars) to US$70,000 (14 million Guyana dollars) for the winner. This will progress to larger amounts as the fighter gets further in the competition. Ultimately, the eventual winner will earn a startling US$250,000 (or 50 million Guyana dollars).
Who holds the current CABOFE titles in the divisions in which the competitions are being fought?
Abdool revealed that the Flyweight CABOFE title is vacant but he noted that it will be a contest between Orlan ‘Pocket Rocket’ Rogers and an unnamed opponent right here in Guyana, possibly against another local boxer Dexter Marques next month on the 24th.
The bantamweight, featherweight and lightweight titles are occupied by Guyanese Elton ‘Coolie Bully’ Dharry and Mexicans Salvador Sanchez II and Fermin De Los Santos respectively.
The super lightweight title is also vacant; however it will be fought for on February 18 in Barbados between Barbadian Miguel ‘Hands of Stone’ Antoine and Guyanese Revlon Lake who is based in Barbados.
The middleweight title which is also vacant will also be occupied next month as the winner of the final eliminator of the February bout in Trinidad between Trinidadian Kevin Placide and Kwesi ‘Lightning Struck Assassin’ Jones.
Twelve days later the winner will face local middleweight champion Edmond Declou for the title at the CASH on February 24.
This consequently means that at least five fighters from the Caribbean will have an enormous opportunity to leap onto the world stage of boxing within the 40 weeks in which the competition will be held.
The tournament will also fast track their respective careers since what they can achieve in 40 weeks may otherwise have taken five to 10 years.
Moreover, the world recognition that will come out of fighting in at least five major cities of the world and on a major US network should put the boxer’s career in excellent order not to mention the reward of winning US$250,000.
The many fight fans who are following this development will see some great boxing soon as fighters give their all to get into this competition.
The action starts with Hardy and Azore this Friday at the CASH and bell time is 20:00hrs.
