The WIBA world title saga: Shondell Alfred won the fight fair and square

Oct 08, 2009 Sports

---

By Michael Benjamin
After months of intense wheeling and dealing, S&S Promotions, headed by Stanford Soloman, and Holland’s Enterprise Promotions, headed by Carwyn Holland, expertly managed to negotiate a world title fight between Shondell ‘Mystery Lady’ Alfred and Canadian/Guyanese, Corrine ‘Sexy Panther’ Van Dyke Degroot. The fight was staged at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) on September 25 last and at the end of the ten rounds affair, Alfred was pronounced winner and new champion.
Shortly afterwards, Degroot signaled an intention to file a protest to the President of the Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA), Ryan Wissow over certain inconsistencies that she felt caused her to lose the title. Chief among her concerns was the referee Eon Jardine’s refusal to administer the mandatory 8 count after a perceived knockdown. Degroot resolutely believes that had the referee done his job fairly, the end result would have been different. She is asking the WIBA President to declare the fight null and void and subsequently order a rematch.
To compound the issue, not one dissenting voice was heard representing Alfred’s case and it appears as though Guyanese have lost their nationalistic verve. This deafening silence gives the impression that there was a high degree of credibility to Degroot’s claims. Further, a letter writer, W P George was adamant that Alfred had lost the fight. He then went on to voice his incredulity that after four knockdowns it was impossible for any fighter to come back and win by anything but a knockout. “Something is just not right there,” proclaimed W P George. Notably this gentleman gathers his opinion from a newspaper report which is second hand information. He did not say he actually saw the fight nor was he in any position to verify the authenticity of Degroot’s claim. Yet he feels qualified to make such a strong statement. I would advise this kindly gentleman to review the bout and then comment on its outcome. This is only too fair.
Now, I have had the opportunity of viewing the fight from a vantage point of several meters away from the ring apron. I subsequently reported on what I saw and in my mind Alfred was a clear winner. Admittedly though, there are times when one’s patriotism may very well cause him/her to be inadvertently biased. As such, when I read Mr. George’s letter and listened to Degroot’s concerns I decided to allow a few days to elapse before once again viewing the fight when my mind would have been clear. After so doing, I am more convinced than ever that Alfred deserved to win that title. As such I present a synopsis of what I saw on the tape after a second review.
Round one: Alfred was the attacker while Degroot danced around attempting to get her bearings. Alfred was definitely more aggressive and therefore won that round by a 10-9 margin. Round two: Alfred continued to attack as Degroot pedaled around the ring scoring with an occasional jab. Alfred was definitely more forceful and aggressive to take this round, 10-9. Alfred continued to attack in the third round and the American continued to back pedal. She did look pretty with her fancy foot works but fights are won by punching not skillful foot works. A one two combination floored DeGroot and give Alfred a 10-8 round.
Mind you, it was inconsequential whether the American was gravely hurt. The rule states that a fighter winning a round after scoring a knockdown does so by 2 clear points unless the other fighter puts up such a spirited effort as to narrow the margin.
This was not the case in this fight. To my mind Alfred dominated rounds four, five and six in a clear cut fashion. In my estimation, both fighters rested in the seventh round and because the activity was so stifled I decided that a draw was the best decision for that round.
The ‘knockdown’ in round eight that Degroot contends should have attracted a mandatory count, was a clear cut punch behind Alfred’s head. Even so, that was not the blow that sent Alfred to the canvass as she evidently lost balance. The last two rounds definitely belonged to Degroot by 10-9 margins. It was in these two rounds that she surely stepped up the tempo but Alfred held on to the end. I scored the bout 98-93 in favour of Alfred. The official scores read: Judge Alves 99-90, Judge Arno 96-92 and Judge Sulivan 97-90, all in favour of Alfred. By no stretch of the imagination did DeGroot even come near to winning the fight and I would be extremely surprised if after perusing the tape, the President of the WIBA rules differently.

---

---