Clive ‘The Punisher’ Atwell dominated Dexter ‘The Cobra’ Gonsalves on Saturday night throughout their WBC FECARBOX super lightweight title fight but a foot injury in round eight led to a TKO loss for the former world rater.
In front of a large and vocal crowd at the Giftland Mall, Atwell 14(8)-2-1 imposed his will on his lanky opponent, neutralizing the Cobra’s venomous jab by fighting aggressively on the inside.
A phone booth like fighting style worked well in Atwell’s favour as he smothered Gonsalves 8(5)-1-2 on the ropes, landing head and body shots while piling up the points.
At the end of the fourth, all three judges had Atwell ahead 40-36.
The 26-year old seemingly took round five off but perhaps still managed to win the round by being the busier of the two. Round six was pretty much a carbon copy of the fifth as both boxers took a breather from the frenetic pace.
Round seven went to Gonsalves as he created some distance from a tiring Atwell, landing his trade mark jab and a few combos. At the start of the eighth, Atwell applied a rope-a-dope strategy to rest as he knew he was way ahead on the cards. His clinching and holding frustrated Gonsalves who was searching for a home run punch that never came.
Inexplicably, out of clinch however, Atwell fell to the canvas which was ruled a slip by referee Eion Jardine. When Atwell rose to his feet he indicated he could not continue.
Amidst chants of ‘TKO, TKO’ by Gonsalves’ supporters, Atwell sat in the neutral corner being attended by ringside judge, Patricia Chase-Green. Following the announcement of a TKO win for the 28 year-old which left several jaws dropped, Atwell was stretchered off to the hospital on a gurney.
A check of the WBC rule book however states that the fight would have been awarded to Atwell if the judges had used the scorecards.The rule clearly states the following-
Unintentional/accidental injury. When a boxer suffers a cut, abrasion, or excessive swelling due to an unintentional/accidental head butt, elbow, etc.
If the bout cannot continue:
- There will not be a point deduction. • Technical draw if before the start of the 5th round. • Technical decision, as per the scorecards, if after the start of 5th round.
We will never know what would have happened had Atwell not suffered the injury, but what we do know is that he was dominating the contest. One can draw conclusions from that. What is certain is that a rematch is imminent whenever ‘The Punisher’ is back to fighting shape.
Gonsalves, the new WBC FECARBOX title holder also stated in a post-match interview that he is looking forward to matching gloves with Atwell again.
In the preceding bouts, debutant Imran ‘Magic’ Khan made light work of David Thomas, stopping the latter in the third round off their four-round lightweight contest.
Keeve Allicock spoiled the debut of his cousin, Terrence Adams after a third round knockout win in the first fight of the evening. In the main supporting bout, Quincy Gomes got a split decision nod over a game Anson Green in their super lightweight six rounder. The scorecards read, 59-54 (Green), 59-54 (Gomes) and 58-55 (Gomes).
Prior to the professional segment of the card, there were four amateur fights. Travis Hubbard defeated Orin Bancroft (points), Nandkumar Singh won against Kelon King (points), Carl Graham KO’d Milton Isaacs (round one) while Dexter Wray outpointed Tefon Green.
Saturday night’s card dubbed ‘Caribbean Knockdown’ marked a welcomed return of this fistic sport following many months of inactivity. It was well organized and attended. Kudos to the coordinators.
