Bouts too close to call as BBBC presents ‘Thirst Park explosion’

Oct 23, 2011 Sports

The battle lines are drawn; Troy Lewis and Iwan Azore are ready to prove once and for all who the better boxer is. They will get an opportunity to make this distinction next Saturday night when they step into the ring in one of the supporting bouts of the ‘Thirst Park Explosion,’ a night of fistic fury promoted by the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) and pits the skills of some of the best local pugilists against each other.
On the same card also, Jermaine ‘Star boy’ King will attempt to avenge an earlier loss at the hands of Mark Austin when they clash in a six round welterweight encounter. Over the past week, King and Lewis have been honing their skills at the Forgotten Youth Foundation (FYF) and both are spewing confidence of winning their respective fights.

Gwendolyn O’Neil attacks the striking pads held by Terrence Poole

Of the two bouts, the Azore/Lewis shindig has captured the interest of the boxing public. During their inaugural bout last year, both fighters were intent on hurting the other and when the bell to signal the end of the contest had sounded, continued to trade leathers as the acrimony spilled over.
The fight was eventually declared a draw but so disgruntled were the two pugilists that they engaged in several minutes trading leathers after the bell had sounded. Spectators were treated to two extra minutes of fury and some have opined that the punches thrown after the bell were more brutal and ill intentioned than the legitimate blows.
GBBC officials jumped in with both feet and the two boxers were hauled before a disciplinary committee, fined and sternly reprimanded. Ever since then, they have yearned for an opportunity to face off within a legal framework. This is their chance to inflict as much pain as they could on each other devoid of sanctions and when one observes their respective work ethic it is clear that both fighters would be going after each other with a passion.
They both confirmed such desires when they appeared on ‘Boxing Revue’ on Channel 9 last Wednesday evening. Azore intimated that he has thrown aside the ill feelings of the aforementioned fight and is ready to punch his way to a victory. He has promised to take things as they come and would grasp the opportunity to end the bout prematurely if the opportunity presented itself.
Lewis was a little brash and promised to end the bout very early. “He will feel the weight of my punches from the very first bell because I have no intention of leaving the decision to the judges this time around,” he blurted. “We will see!” was Azore’s mild but ominous response.
King feels that his drawn decision against Barbadian, Miguel Antoine has shown up the deficiencies in Mark Austin’s armory especially since the latter fighter had suffered a knockout loss to the Bajan. That may have been so but Austin had bullied King in an earlier bout en route to a lopsided unanimous verdict. King has labeled that victory as a fluke and said that when he is through in the impending bout Austin would wish he had not signed for the bout.
King will need more than just empty rhetoric to cross this hurdle but one will also need to remember that apart from the Antoine loss Austin had also surrendered a knockout decision to another Barbadian based Guyanese, Revlon Lake. These losses had impacted negatively on Austin’s psyche and he had recoiled for an extended period. This is his first outing since the loss to Lake and
unless he can shake off the shackles Austin may find himself on the losing end this time around.
Otherwise, several other bouts would comprise the card including the long awaited bout between former European champion and current local middleweight champion, Howard Eastman and Edmond DeClou for the local accolade while Pauline London, who has brashly called out Gwendolyn ‘Stealth Bomber’ O’Neil to put her WIBA heavyweight title on the line, will get her wish after O’Neil called her bluff.
Simeon Hardy will also appear on the card in a four rounder against Barbadian Julian Taniff.
The boxers will put the finishing touches to their training over the next few days and boxing buffs would want to be present to make informed choices. Hardy is at the Forgotten Youth Foundation (FYF) boxing gym as are Lewis and King. Mark Austin is at the Andrew Lewis Boxing Gym (ALBG) under the tutelage of Coach George Oprecht as are O’Neil and London. Azore is working out at the Five Star Gym, Golden Grove ECD, under Carl Franklyn’s direction.
Meanwhile, the organizers have intimated that there will be no amateur bouts on this card while the admission price moves to $2500 for the inner ringside while the outer ringside will be $15:00.