Jones registers electrifying knockout to retain light/heavyweight crown

Aug 27, 2011 Sports

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By Michael Benjamin
West Indies cricket fans that have bemoaned the annoying trait of the region’s cricket ambassadors of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory would develop a healthy love and respect for Kwesi ‘Lightening Struck Assassin ‘ Jones who, last Friday evening, rebounded from certain defeat to slam home a sucker punch and register a sensational knockout over Cleveland Fraser when the two pugilists faced off for the latter’s light/heavyweight title in the August edition of the ProAm boxing cards at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH).
Jones’ victory occurred shortly before Pauline London defied her critics to pound out a close split decision verdict over Veronica Blackman and Ray Sandiford chalked up a lopsided majority decision over Barbadian based Guyanese, Gardiel Roberts.  Another Barbados based Guyanese, Revlon Lake, turned back the challenge of Cecil Smith to register a lopsided majority verdict in their junior welterweight contest.
Fraser and Jones started the first round guardedly, each watchful of the other’s ploys. This round could have easily been scored as a draw as both fighters while working themselves into a rhythm, settled for tame exchanges of jabs accompanied by an occasional straight right.
The second round clearly belonged to Fraser who pumped stiff left jabs into Jones’ face, before converting vicious straight rights that landed with unerring accuracy.  The pattern continued into the third stanza when upon the sound of the bell, Fraser came out with blazing fists. A straight right landed flush on Jones’ temple, and before he could have asserted himself, the Barbadian based Guyanese unleashed a left hook that drifted him backwards.
In the meantime Jones plodded forward lashing out and attempting to land a haymaker. His efforts failed dismally as Fraser grew in confidence, driving his man backwards with several ramrod offerings.
Fraser continued to pump the jabs into Jones’ face and the light/heavyweight champion seemed at a loss to find the appropriate counter punches. Fraser was now in full flow as he scored punches at will with Jones plodding forward with most of his responses either sailing through the air or falling short of the mark.
By the time the fifth round started, Fraser looked a sure winner and many of Jones’ fans had given up hopes of their fighter coming back into the picture. In the meantime, a super confident Fraser continued to enjoy target practice, hitting Jones at will with every punch in the book.
Round six was the most torrid for Jones as Fraser connected with several salvoes that had him tottering around the ring. Jones then resorted to theatrics and managed to lure Fraser into a sense of complacency, forcing him to replace his aggression for a laid back approach. The ploy was not as effective as Jones would have wanted since Fraser, upon realizing that he was being tricked launched another attack that had Jones covering up.
When the bell sounded for the seventh round, a courageous Jones danced out to meet his man but it was clear that he was still groggy from the punches of the preceding round. Fraser mercilessly pursued him in an attempt to halt the proceedings there and then. Despite being hurt, Jones courageously fought back but Fraser refused to be denied and the light/heavyweight title seemed to be on the verge of changing hands.
The tide turned somewhat for Jones in round eight after Fraser had registered a crunching straight right to his jaw. Jones took it like a man and returned the favour and for the first time in the bout he managed to push Fraser backwards but with victory in sight, an exhausted Fraser wisely changed tactics and clinched while effectively slowing the pace of the fight.
Fraser entered the ninth stanza oozing confidence even as Jones plodded behind him attempting to land that sucker punch.
The former fighter was enjoying such a huge lead that only a knockout could have helped Jones. Fraser then connected with a jab and was well primed up to follow through with the right hand when Jones delivered a wicked uppercut that slammed into Fraser’s chin and gravity took over.
Fraser crashed to the deck with a resounding thud and even before the referee commenced the mandatory count, Jones was celebrating. The ‘third man’ had only reached halfway of the count when a closer perusal of the situation prompted him to wave the proceedings off. Indeed, no amount of counting would have helped Fraser who remained prostrate on port canvass for all of two minutes before he was helped into his corner where he plopped down on his stool dejected and probably ruing his inability to hang on just a little bit longer. At that point he was comfortably ahead on all three judges scorecard. Carlton Hopkinson had him ahead 75-77 while Francis Abraham and K D Persaud had it 78-75 and 77-76 respectively.
The crunching uppercut that connected to Fraser’s button rendered those scores inconsequential with Jones retaining his treasured accolade at 1:20secs of the ninth frame.
Revlon Lake was not as sharp as when he won the local lightweight title but he managed to out- box and out-punch a game but out-classed Cecil Smith to capture a unanimous verdict. Lake endorsed an earlier proclamation that he would have started fighting early, unlike in his last bout when he got into the swing of things in the latter rounds.
He dominated Smith from the onset and despite the latter fighter giving a good account of himself in the first two rounds, he fell short of the mark in the last two, fading away after Lake launched a sustained attack.
In the other two professional bouts, Pauline London prevailed over a game Veronica Blackman in a bout that only had short spurts of action. Otherwise, the two pugilists bounced around the ring and failed to produce the promised fireworks, while the clash between Ray Sandiford and Gardiel Roberts fizzed into an anti-climax with Sandiford effortlessly taking the honours.
The fighters now return to their respective gyms to resume training for the September edition of the programme.

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