Jermaine King, Simeon Hardy step up training for toughest fights of careers

Sep 14, 2011 Sports

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Barbadian Miguel Antoine must be feeling invincible after enjoying decisive victories over Shawn Pyle, Mark Austin and Cassius Matthews in earlier editions of the monthly Friday night fights at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH).
Admittedly, the Bajan is a disciplined fighter since he always enters the ring immaculately fit. Such traits are indicative of a hard worker whose ambitions are intact. Undefeated as a professional pugilist, Antoine had earlier experienced the misfortune of losing the CABOFE jnr/welterweight title without being afforded the opportunity of defending it.

Shackled with a mandatory obligation to defend and faced with a paucity of reputable opponents, Antoine stood helplessly by while the ruling body declared the title vacant. Unperturbed, the Barbadian bided his time and when offered a bout against Austin for the Junior Commonwealth crown, he eagerly accepted. The rest is history. His subsequent victories over Pyle and Matthews have solidified Antoine’s claim of being the best in the region.
Meanwhile, Jermaine King, a tall, well built Guyanese pugilist, was practicing his art in neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago. He is yet to register a win since fighting professionally, losing once in his adopted home to Kevin Diaz and twice on the ProAm cards to Cecil Smith and Mark Austin.
King has accepted a fight with Antoine and despite the vast contrast of their records, the Guyanese is spouting confidence. “I will win this fight despite the odds,” he proclaimed when Kaieteur Sport visited the Forgotten Youth Foundation (FYF) yesterday afternoon where he is honing his skill. Indeed, from all indications, King is aiming to solidify the authenticity of his surname. Registering a win over Antoine is certainly an uphill task but the Guyanese pugilist is adamant that that is what he will do. “I am making no predictions,” he says; “my fists will speak on the night of the fight.”
Wensel ‘Knacka’ Thomas is King’s coach and yesterday afternoon he took his charge through 90 minutes of rigid work in preparation for the bout. Thomas is adamant that King is still to realize his full potential. “He will have to dig real deep once he is in my charge,” declared Thomas.
The national coach directed King as he engaged in several rigid rounds on the pads before moving over to the heavy bag. King then skipped for more than half an hour before simmering down with rigid calisthenics.
“Jermaine cannot fight Antoine; he will have to box and such tactics will require that he is fit,” stated Thomas in justifying the toughness of the workout. He further assured that when he is through King would be good and ready to take on the Bajan. “Provided he listens to my instructions he will be okay,” declared Thomas.
Simeon ‘Candyman’ Hardy was also hard at work at the FYF. He commenced his career on a winning note with a 20secs knockout of Patrick Boston in the October 2010 edition of the Friday night fights, eclipsing an earlier record of the fastest knockout by Troy Lewis over Rudolph Fraser.
The lanky pugilist subsequently racked up a 4-0 record, his other two victims being Cassius Matthews and Eversley Browne with only Lewis staying around for the final bell. The ‘Candyman’ is often heard proclaiming himself to be invincible and his voice has pitched to the ears of the organizers of the ProAm boxing cards. They have matched him against Winston Pompey who, despite minimal success as a professional, could present some problems for ’The Candyman.’  In his last outing in Jamaica, Pompey lost to Sakima Mullings and would be anxious to rekindle his career.
Hardy is in a no nonsense mood and has stated that he will stop Pompey very early. “I have my eyes set on bigger things and will not allow Pompey to stand in my way,’ declared Hardy.  He said that he is willing to fight anyone in his division including Andrew ‘Sixheads’ Lewis, Howard ‘Battersea Bomber’ Eastman or any of the top ranked fighters. He is also interested in a showdown with Iwan Azore. “Pompey will not last,” declared Hardy as he slammed a left hook into the bag for emphasis. Even amidst such unbridled confidence. Hardy will have to fight his heart out if he is to prevail in his toughest test since taking off his shirt.
Otherwise, the September edition of the monthly ProAm boxing cards promises a chockfull of action and all of the pugilists are engaged in hard work and Kaieteur Sport will keep the public abreast of their development in the weeks ahead.
In other professional bouts, Troy Lewis and Kelsie George will duke it out over 4 rounds. The latter fighter is making his professional debut after completing a decent amateur career while Shaheed Ali, another debutant, will also don his shirt for the first time when he battles Carlton Skeete in a 4 rounds bantamweight contest.
The ProAm boxing affair is an initiative of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and the National Communications Network (NCN). The action gets underway at 20:00hrs and admission is $1,000 for adults with children being asked to pay half that amount.

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