Jones defeats Eastman, Tyson avenges London as ProAm boxing card shifts gears

Sep 26, 2010 Sports

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By Michael Benjamin
President of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC), Peter Abdool had promised that the monthly ProAm boxing extravaganza would have gelled into an important and eagerly awaited activity if the corporate community supported the efforts of the planners. Last Saturday evening members of the business sector would have seen all the evidence that any support rendered to the card would be money well spent. This fact was underlined from the very first bout when Clive Atwell and Mark Austin fulfilled the pre fight hype and battled to an exciting draw to the very last bout when Kwesi Jones battered the ‘Battersea Bomber’ to register the biggest win of his fledging professional career.
In between those bouts Debbie Tyson turned in a masterful display to avenge an earlier loss to Pauline London while Shawn Cox stifled Leon ‘The Lion’ Gilkes’ roar and dished out a severe licking to the local light/heavyweight contender.
The junior/middleweight fight between Simeion Hardy and Gavin Williams was called off after officials discovered that one of the fighters did not receive an ‘all clear’ from medical practitioners.
The jury is still out on which of the fights could have been adjudged the best as the principals went after each other from the first gong as though they had an old grievance to settle. Both Eastman and Jones made glitzy entrances to the ring and was heartily cheered by their respective supporters. Eastman, generally a slow starter, commenced the attack from the onset but was met by a game Jones who matched his every blow. Both boxers enjoyed good moments in the first stanza, first Jones who scored with a telling right cross that pushed Eastman backwards before the lanky Berbician retaliated with several straight punches towards the end of the round and the good sized crowd settled for the anticipated slugfest in the second round.
It did not really materialize as Jones elected to jab and move from a peek-a-boo stance while Eastman launched an attack with most of his blows landing on Jones’ highly held guard.  At the start of the third round Eastman pushed Jones backwards with several ramrod punches but Jones refused to cower and retaliated with several salvoes of his own. Despite launching an attack, Jones failed to land clean shots and Eastman attempted to capitalize with several right crosses. Jones decided to up the ante and even though his punches lacked venom, they were landing and scoring points. A clearly ring rusty Eastman could not match Jones’ aggression and in the end surrendered the bout by a unanimous decision.
Debbie Tyson demonstrated what could be done with determination and application when she demonstrated superb ring generalship to outlast Pauline London and avenge an earlier loss. Demonstrating unbridled confidence, London started the bout aggressively reminiscent of the first encounter. Only this time, a better prepared Tyson matched her every blow while dancing away. London would have preferred an all out brawl but Tyson refused to oblige her, opting instead to punch and move. Tyson’s jabs were superb as she peppered London whose defence would have received an A grade except that she was blocking most of Tyson’s punches with her face. By the end of the second stanza Tyson seemed to be enjoying target practice as she landed stinging jabs and right crosses to London’s face with absolute aplomb.
Tyson had earlier told London that she had changed the fuel in her ‘gas tank’ from kerosene oil to Tex Gas and indeed the evidence was there for all to see. As London wilted, Tyson appeared to find renewed energy and pummeled her opponent with several right crosses. London attempted to up the ante but while some of her punches managed to land, they were ineffective owing to Tyson’s slick movements. At the end of the bout, London who had earlier promised to ‘bust up’ Tyson’s mouth and make her spit blood seemed resigned to the inevitable. The judges merely confirmed her worst fears. Atwell and Austin set the CASH alight with several toe to toe exchanges as both pugilists attempted to make strong statements. Atwell attacked Austin’s body while the shorter Austin opted to unleash his venom to Atwell’s head. The crowd loved every moment of it as the two gladiators lashed out at each other as though to settle an old grievance. Austin must be commended for his ring generalship and his ability to enact a sustained attack. Atwell, on the other hand, chose to dance away while retaliating with straight punches.
If the first two rounds were the smoke, rounds three and four produced the fireworks as both boxers threw caution to the wind and lashed out.
Atwell did show glimpses of classy boxing when he chose to dance around his man, flicking the jab in his face. Both fighters attempted to leave a lasting impression on the judges as the second wound down. It was in this round that Austin truly distinguished himself. For every punch Atwell threw, Austin retaliated with three of his own. Keeping a tight guard, Austin matched his opponents every blow and at the end of the thrilling four rounds encounter, the crowd was assured that he had done enough to win. The judges ruled differently. Francis Abraham saw the bout 38-38 while Andrew Thorne had Austin ahead 39-37. Judge Ayesha Romain scored the bout 38-38 which rendered the contest a draw and set the stage for the return clash.
Cox was all aggression as he steamrolled Gilkes with several salvoes that had him on the back foot for the larger part of the bout. Gilkes, who weighed in at 3 pounds lighter than Cox (198 to 195) never seemed to seriously threaten his opponent’s dominance even though he did manage to stitch in a few sharp punches intermittently. Sporting a muscular physique, Cox caught Gilkes with a looping right in the third round and floored him. Gilkes rose like a man but remained cagey up to the end when Cox won the lopsided verdict.
The organizers have already started planning for the ninth edition of the programme scheduled to get underway on Friday October 29.

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