By Emmerson Campbell
Featherweight boxer Mandessa Moses used her superior ring craft to record a unanimous defeat of heavyweight opponent Pauline London
In the headline bout of the 21st edition of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) Pro Am card at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall Friday night.
Moses was outweighed by London by almost 60 pounds but Moses’ superior reach and defence kept the shorter, sluggish London at bay.
London, who promised to throw several ‘bombs’ at Moses in pre-fight interviews, threw several right hand telegraphed heaves throughout the six-round catch weight affair, all of which failed to connect to the target.
If the venue was equipped with Compu Box (the computer that tracks punches landed) it would have probably recorded a total of six landed punches for London.
The 21-year-old Moses counter-punched her heavyweight foe throughout the one-sided affair (all three judges scored the fight 60 to 54)landing stiff left jabs and the occasional right hand to improve her record to seven wins and a solitary defeat which was her debut professional fight.
The 35-year-old London who sported a bald hairstyle, now drops to four wins and 10 losses.
In the main supporting bout of the evening, World Boxing Council (WBC) Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE) welterweight champion Simeon ‘Candy Man’ Hardy knocked out a courageous Mark Austin in the last round of their eight-round match up.
Hardy, who threw several uppercuts and his patented ‘chin check’ punches at arguably his toughest opponent yet, finally put Austin on the canvas with a vicious left-right combination.
In the first two rounds Hardy landed jabs, right hands and combinations while Austin landed some combinations of his own.
In rounds three and four, the shorter Austin switched to a southpaw stance and closed the gap between him Hardy. Fighting an inside fight, Austin landed some hard right hands to the head and body of Hardy forcing the ‘Candy Man’ back.
The fifth frame was an anticlimax as both fighters seemed to take the round off. However, in the sixth round, Hardy caught Austin with a thundering straight right that made him pedal backwards. The ‘Candy Man’ cornered Austin and unleashed a barrage of left and rights bringing the small crowd to their feet in anticipation of the end.
Austin survived the round but the damage was done and the end was soon to come. In round seven, Hardy, sensing that the end was near, searched for the one big punch to put Austin away. However Austin was elusive and survived the round.
A bloodied and exhausted Austin came out for the eighth and final round but 25 seconds later referee Franklyn Brisport was forced to put an end to the thrilling contest after Hardy landed a vicious left-right combination to the jaw of Austin that sent him to the canvas.
Hardy, the undefeated 24-year-old knockout specialist improved his professional record to eight wins with seven of those wins coming by way of knockout. Austin’s record now reads seven wins, four losses and a draw.
In the six-round featherweight encounter, Rudolph Fraser just needed two rounds to dispose of Barbados-based Guyanese Gardel Roberts. After tasting the canvas three times in the second frame, a punch drunk Roberts was given a chance by referee Dexter Torrington to continue. However, the hard-hitting Fraser landed a brutal right hand to the jaw of Roberts that sent him sprawling to the canvas.
At two minutes, five seconds into the round, Torrington was forced to put an end to the assault. After the fight a confident Fraser proclaimed that he wants to match gloves with the WBC CABOFE champion US- based Guyanese Elton ‘Coolie Bully’ Dharry.
WBC CABOFE middleweight champion Edmond ‘Wonder Boy’ DeClou absorbed some telling right hands by Kelsie George before George quit on his stool at the end of the third round.
On the amateur segment of the card brothers Richard and Joel Williamson both recorded decision victories over their respective opponents, bantamweight Dellon Charles and Shawn Michael (105 to 109).
On the distaff side junior flyweight Ansilla Norville defeated Keisha Arokium in their four-round encounter. Ansilla’s brother Romeo Norville was not as fortunate as he dropped a decision to Ron Smith in their middleweight matchup.
Guyana’s first world champion Andrew ‘Sixhead’ Lewis, WIBA’s heavyweight and bantamweight champions Gwendolyn ‘Stealth Bomber’ Oneil and Shondell ‘Mystery Lady’Alfred and Guyana’s only Olympic medalist, bronze medal winner Michael Parris were all in attendance.
The monthly card is an initiative of the GBBC in collaboration with the Ministry of Sport and the National Communication Network (NCN).
Sponsors for the event include Digicel, Giftland Office Max, Courts, Banks DIH Limited and ANSA Mcal.
