By Michaelangelo Jacobus
The sizable gathering of boxing fans on Thursday evening at the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue were treated to a display of impressive pugilistic skill from the Guyanese fighters in the Elite and International bouts of the Guyana Boxing Association’s (GBA) Developmental Boxing Championship.
Billed as the ‘Clash of the Titans’, Guyana’s Emmanuel Pompey came up against Suriname’s Leandro Dongo in the Super Heavyweight Division and easily put on the display of the night.
Fittingly the final bout of the night and the tournament, the duo went head to head in a display of ‘pound for pound’ boxing for the entire three rounds. However, when the final bell rang, it was Pompey who had his hand raised, snatching a well-deserved victory after out-boxing and outlasting his opponent to the delight of his supporters.
on the offensive in his Lightweight clash with Clinton Clarke.
Meanwhile, Dwayne July also gave good representation of Guyana in his Heavyweight victory over Surinamese Richard Everd, sealing that bout with a points victory. In an all-Guyanese affair, gym mates Zidhan Wray and Troy Glasgow collided in a Super Heavyweight encounter, the former getting the better of the latter in a points decision.
Earlier in the night, Forgotten Youth Foundation’s (FYF) resurgent Septon Barton continued his successful comeback to the boxing arena with a technical masterclass, completely dominating Guyana Defence Force (GDF) boxer Clinton Clarke in their Elite Lightweight final to score a unanimous decision on points.
In other Elite class fights, Julian Clarke delivered a knockdown blow to Lincoln Murray 43 seconds into the second round of their Bantamweight clash while Colin Lewis had no need to lift a fist, securing victory by walkover in his Junior Welterweight encounter against Zonoko Lyttle.
Disappointingly, Osias Prince abandoned his Welterweight engagement against Emmanuel Sancho before the bell rang for the first round while Shaquille Daw beat Collin Hinds (Middleweight) on points.
Aluko Bess on the other hand boxed Hullman Bovell into submission, forcing him to retire from the bout two minutes and 52 seconds into the first round of their Cruiserweight fight.
The Developmental Championship, the second of its kind, was designed by the GBA to give boxers much needed time in a competitive setting ahead of respective international events and Olympic Games bids.
