Mandessa Moses demolishes Sharon Ward in ProAm boxing card

Aug 29, 2010 Sports

---

A much improve crowd witnessed Mandessa Moses as she defied a weight disadvantage and turned in a classical performance to outbox Sharon Ward and earn a unanimous verdict when the seventh edition of the monthly ProAm boxing extravaganza got underway at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) on Friday evening.
Leon Gilkes replicated his performance of an earlier encounter against Theophilus King to establish his dominance against the muscular heavyweight and prove that his first victory was no fluke, while Dexter Marques delivered on his pre-fight promise and defeated Rudolph Fraser by the widest of margins. The night started on a successful note for Mark Austin when he meted out a licking to Errol Trotman to maintain his unbeaten streak in his third professional bout.
Apparently realizing that Ward had a 40 pounds weight advantage, Moses chose to box around while sticking a ramrod jab into Ward’s face. The latter fighter plodded behind the former attempting to corner her but the wily Moses countered with stinging right crosses. Ward attempted to up the ante midway into the first frame but Moses stayed on her bicycle, effectively nullifying her opponent’s attack.
The pattern continued into the second stanza with Moses working up a good rhythm, jabbing effectively to keep her stocky opponent at bay. Up to this point Ward was still to discover Moses’ Achilles Heel and once again surrendered the second round. Round three and four were mere replicas of the first two stanzas where Ward attacked, missed and was made to pay for her folly with several ramrod punches.
The announcement that Moses was the unanimous winner was well taken by her loyal supporters and the few that she managed to win over after her classical performance.
Fraser had boasted that he would have defeated Marques but his approach to the fight never suggested any seriousness in this proclamation. Anyone seeing Marques in action before the Fraser encounter would have expected the same classical approach to which the small framed boxer had built his fame. Fraser was totally unprepared and spent the entire night attempting to find a solution to Marques’ superb boxing approach.
Not known to be a power puncher, Marques’ supporters would have been surprised when he lashed out and decked Fraser midway of the second stanza.
Fraser was up in a flash but the damage was already done and he surrendered that round by a 10-8 margin. Marques continues to demonstrate good ring generalship and it was apparent that Fraser was at sea to respond appropriately.
In the end the fight which had the makings of a classical affair simmered down to a one sided fight with Marques prevailing.
King wore an ominous expression for the entire fight but that was the sum total of his aggression. Gilkes demonstrated scant respect for him, unleashing several salvoes, one of which decked King in the second round.
He rose on unsteady legs and could count himself lucky that his opponent lacked the killer instinct. Instead of pressing home his advantage, Gilkes chose to stay at long range, flicking the jab in King’s face.
The latter fighter recuperated somewhat in the third stanza and unleashed a flurry of punches to Gilkes’ body and head but by then a supremely confident Gilkes was way ahead on the judges’ scorecard and retaliated with several unorthodox punches of his own. When the bell rang for the end of the bout, Gilkes confidently raised his hands knowing that he had done enough to win a lopsided decision. The judges concurred.
Trotman boasted that his years of experience in the ‘square jungle’ would have been enough to defeat Austin. In fact, the boxing analysts had dismissed the fight as a walk in the park for the seasoned contender. Austin proved them all wrong.
He unleashed a two fisted attack on Trotman who promptly sought refuge on the canvass. He did rise before the completion of the mandatory eight count but was met by a barrage of punches that had him swaying like a small boat in the stormy seas. Austin seemed to be in no hurry as he meticulously chose his punches, picking his opponent apart. Almost every punch thrown by Austin elicited a ‘break dance’ response from the hapless Trotman. Referee Franklyn Brisport, for some inexplicable reason refused to call a halt to the one sided affair. It took the mercy of Trotman’s handlers to call a halt to the mauling when they threw in the towel.
The attendance level witnessed for this card is the best to date and supports the boast of the executive of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) that the programme would eventually gel into an eagerly awaited occasion. The next ProAm boxing card is slated for Friday September 24. Details of these fights would be announced shortly.

---

---