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Mark Austin, Ray Sandiford heighten preparations for 16th edition of ProAm card
For most people, Sunday is a day of reverence; when they either go to church or opt to stay home and enjoy peace and tranquility. While many conform to this age old tradition, Mark Austin and Ray Sandiford spent the entire morning honing their skills at the Andrew ‘Sixhead’ Lewis Boxing gym in preparation for fistic duties in the June edition of the monthly ProAm boxing cards scheduled for Friday June 24 at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH).
Sandiford (left) and Austin shortly after completing training sessions yesterday morning
Both pugilists took a break from sparring sessions yesterday and opted for prolonged sessions on the heavy bag under the watchful eyes of coach, George ‘Kanchi’ Oprecht. Austin will tackle Barbadian based Revlon Lake for the local lightweight crown which is presently vacant while Ray Sandiford, merely in his second professional fight, will attempt to carry on the tradition in a 4 rounds catchweight match against Orlando ‘Pocket Rocket’ Rogers.
Naturally both pugilists are exuding confidence but while Mark Austin remained cagey in predicting an outcome for his fight Sandiford brashly proclaimed that ‘Pocket Rocket’ will not last. “A lot of people have been telling me that Rogers is very experience and that he will be me up but I have a surprise in store for him,” declared Sandiford. He also pointed out that while Rogers may be touted as the more experienced boxing he (Sandiford) has had several tough fights in the amateur arena and managed to pass the test. “I am not afraid of his mouth, Rogers would have to show me what he has on fight night,” Sandiford concluded.
Earlier in the week both pugilists were engaged in several rounds of hectic glove work with Winston Pompey while he was preparing for an engagement against Jamaican Sakima Mullings. Despite the differences in weight where Pompey outweighed them both, Austin and Sandiford gave a good account of themselves and clearly are in good shape.
Austin said that despite defeating Lake in an earlier bout he will not get complacent. He said that he is training hard and looks forward to a tough fight. The last bout was just over 4 rounds and when quizzed on the longer version Austin remarked, “I fought for twelve hard rounds against Miguel (Antoine) and managed quite well and after defeating Lake before, I do not believe he has Antoine’s skill so I will win this one,” concluded Austin.
Meanwhile, Oprecht echoed his charges’ boasts saying that they have both trained exceptionally hard. The veteran coach said that he plans to whip his charges in the best possible shape and will be resuming sparring sessions during the coming week.
Other than those two bouts, Simeon Hardy attempts to preserve his unbeaten record against Eversley Brown in a catchweight affair while Joel McRae will tangle with ‘Dangerous’ Denny Dalton in a middleweight bout.
Kaieteur News visits the Forgotten Youth Foundation (FYF) sometime this week to assess the progress of Hardy and Dalton. McRae is expected in Guyana soon from his Trinidad and Tobago base.
The ProAm boxing card is a Guyana Boxing Board of Control initiative in collaboration with the Guyana Amateur Boxing Association (GABA), the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sports (MCYS) and the National Communications Network (NCN). Admission remains at $1000 per person while those with special passes will be allowed entry on presentation of the passes. NCN would provide a live broadcast of the proceedings and the action gets underway at 20:00hrs sharp.
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