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Kurt Bess, Mark Austin intensify preparations for career defining battles
Local light/heavyweight and heavyweight champion Kurt Bess and Mark Austin intensified
their preparations for arguably the biggest bouts of their careers with spirited sessions at the Andrew ‘Sixhead’ Lewis boxing gym last Sunday morning.
However, both pugilists experienced minor setbacks after their respective sparring partners failed to attend training sessions. As such, their coach, George ‘Kanchi’ Oprecht was forced to effect minor changes to their respective programmes. Bess spent several arduous rounds on the striking pads, speed ball and the heavy bag. Oprecht is very upbeat and said that his charge will be at his best for the December 17 bout against Barbadian, Shawn Cox for his World Boxing Council (WBC) Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE) cruiserweight title at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH).
He said that Bess has shown vast improvement ever since his stunning knockout victories over Mitchell Rogers and Anthony Augustin. Oprecht said that he is concentrating on conditioning exercises since he feels that the Bess/Cox bout could very well boil down to the fittest man on the night in question.
Cox is no stranger to the local scene having defeated Leon ‘The Lion’ Gilkes in an earlier edition of the ProAm boxing cards. He is a strong puncher with the body of a professional wrestler, a vast contrast to Bess whose punching power belies his wiry frame. Naturally, with contrasting styles, the bout could turn out to be interesting with the fitter boxer carting off the spoils.
Mark Austin was also hard at work and spent most of the session pounding away on the heavy punching bag and subsequently the striking pads. He had dropped an earlier decision to Antoine for the Zonal Commonwealth title but feels that he could reverse the verdict. The two will clash in an 8 rounds welterweight bout.
On Sunday morning, Austin worked tirelessly on the heavy bag, perfecting his skills even as he strived to augment his power punches. When quizzed of his plans for this bout, Austin shied away from a knockout prediction simply saying that he is going for a win. Reflecting on the first bout where he suffered an 8th round knockout, Austin said that he had underrated his man and had paid dearly for the error. He said that ever since that loss he had longed for the moment when he would have been given an opportunity to reverse the decision. He has since vowed to win the bout convincingly.
Otherwise, Clive Atwell will tackle Barbadian based Guyanese Gardiel Roberts in a 130lbs shindig, while Hewley Robinson and debutant Prince Slowe will go after each other in a 4 rounds bantamweight clash.
Meanwhile, President of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC), Peter Abdool said that the fights would not be broadcast live as was the case in earlier editions. The GBBC boss said that he was merely heeding to advice by members of the corporate community and other boxing analysts that such a decision may be counterproductive.
Nevertheless, the fights would be broadcast on National Communications Network (NCN) at least one week after its conclusion. Mr. Abdool opined that the public would be able to see a more qualitative product that as it would undergo a sanitization process.
This card is the final one for the year and is a replacement to the Andrew Lewis/Hector Camacho bout which was aborted after the promoter, Seon Bristol encountered problems.
Meanwhile, GBBC official, Clairmonte DeSouza in an invited comment disclosed that this year has been a good year for the sport. He said that officials of his organization had worked tirelessly to ensure that the local pugilists benefit from the ProAm initiative. He thanked the public for the support rendered and urged their support for this card and others in the future. Mr. DeSouza further voiced the hope that local fighters may realize their full potential and fight for major titles during the coming year.
He also acknowledged the support of the corporate community saying that such chivalry has been a major catalyst towards the successful staging of the cards. Four amateur bouts will also comprise the card and the organizers are currently awaiting those names.
The card will be sponsored by Banks DIH Ltd, Castrol, Giftland Office Max, Ansa McAl and Courts. Patrons are advised to retain their ticket stubs for a special drawing at the end of the card. The winner will receive two airline tickets to Trinidad and Tobago compliments of Red Jet Airlines.
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