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Wayne ‘Big Truck’ Braithwaite tackles Shawn Cox as five CABOFE titles on the line
By Michael Benjamin
Five Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE) titles will be at stake when the organizers 
of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) stages a special boxing card dubbed, ‘World Boxing Council (WBC) Cup Caribbean Championships,’ at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) on Saturday February 25.
Heavyweight CABOFE champion, Barbadian Shawn Cox will put his title on the line against former WBC cruiserweight champion, Wayne ‘Big Truck’ Braithwaite in what will be the battle of the strongmen while Edmond DeClou will face his toughest foe when he laces up gloves against Barbadian Kevin Placide. The winner of this bout carts off the CABOFE middleweight belt.
USA based Guyanese and CABOFE bantamweight champion, Elton ‘Coolie Bully’ Dharry will defend his title against Barbadian Selwyn Lett in another eagerly anticipated 12 rounds scorcher, while Barbadian based Guyanese, Revlon Lake will go after Barbadian, Miguel Antoine for the CABOFE super lightweight belt.
Organizers are attempting to fill the many vacant spots in the Caribbean Boxing Federation ratings to create the opportunity for local pugilists to compete for lucrative titles and monetary rewards in the WBC anniversary celebrations tournament slated for later in the year. Already, Simeon ‘Candyman’ Hardy has cemented his place with a crushing knockout victory over Iwan ‘Pure Gold’ Azore.
The Cox/Braithwaite encounter should provide top class action and fans would not want to miss it. The Barbadian has had a successful run in the Friday Night Fights and his recent demolition of local heavyweight champion, Kurt Bess has made him almost invincible. He will find a different challenge in Braithwaite whose international experience is expected to stand him in good stead. Both boxers pack a terrific wallop and the chances of the bout lasting the distance are very minimal.
Cox has won the CABOFE title and after experiencing difficulties procuring worthwhile competition turned to the local Fight Night extravaganza. There he made favourable impressions after defeating Leon Gilkes, Anthony Augustin and quite recently Kurt Bess, in defence of his CABOFE title. The question is; is he biting off more than he could chew? That question will be answered this month end.
Braithwaite practices at the world famous Gleason’s Gym, Brooklyn NY where there is no paucity of sparring partners. He recently ventured into Russia for a proposed bout against Ali Ismailov of Azerbaijan on a card dubbed ‘Not a Step Back,’ at the Khodynka Palace of Sports in November last. However, certain organizational inconsistencies forced a termination of the fight and Braithwaite chipped in as the main sparring partner for Dennis Levedev who eventually defeated former world champion, James Toney in an interim bout for the WBC cruiserweight title. The former cruiserweight champion will enter the ring with a wealth of experience.
The other bouts will be the icing on a well baked cake and the Antoine/Lake bout will generate the most interest. The latter pugilist will best be remembered for his sensational knockout of Mark Austin in an earlier edition of the Fight Night card. Antoine had also defeated Austin twice but his victories were not as commanding as that of Lake. He does not pack a wallop and will find that Lake is a powerful puncher. However, the latter fighter takes a while to work up a rhythm while the former starts his fight from the first gong. One could only visualize the ensuring battle for supremacy when these two warriors take to the ring.
Otherwise, DeClou gets an opportunity to solidify his claim of being the best middleweight in the Caribbean. Placide is no slouch but has dropped decisions to less classy boxers than DeClou. Nevertheless, he is the more experienced and might be able to use this trait to overwhelm the Guyanese middleweight champion.
Orland Rogers is on a high after scoring a convincing win over Lett in July last year. He will want to convert this trend to the Marques bout especially since the stakes are high. Marques has had a rude awakening when he was stopped by Dharry last year. Since then, he has had a short training tenure in Canada and would be eager to display his newly acquired techniques.
The boxers convene this afternoon to affix their signatures to their respective contracts before opening camp at their respective gyms. The price of admission is $3,000 for ringside and half that amount for the stands. Activities will not be televised live.
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