Terrence Ali National Open Boxing Championships

Nov 01, 2015 Sports

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Raging slugfests characterize opening night as boxers get ready for Caribbean tournament

By Michael Benjamin
The executive of the Guyana Boxing Association have renamed the National Open Boxing Championships in

honour of former ESPN champion and world rater, Terrence Ali, and the fistic explosions that were witnessed by dozens of cheering fans, when the tournament got underway last Friday evening at the Andrew Lewis Boxing Gym (ALBG), was truly a fitting acknowledgement of the local warrior.
Several slugfests have entertained the crowd and lifted the hopes of pundits that the eventual selectees for the ‘Back to the Future’ Caribbean Boxing card, scheduled for this month end, will do Guyana well. The award for fight of the night certainly belonged to lightweight contenders, Diwani Lampkin of the Forgotten Youth Foundation (FYF) and GDF representative, Shaquile De Young. Lampkin was the aggressor in the early stages of the first round and he pursued his man while landing right jabs and left crosses from his southpaw stance. A crunching left cross rocked De Young’s head backward and Lampkin followed up with stinging combinations. When the bell rang, De Young trudged to his corner and the spectators surmised that the fight would not get past the second stanza.
De Young defied the skeptics and came out slugging at the start of the second stanza. He seemed to be making commendable inroads until a well timed straight left connected to his jaw and sent him tumbling to the canvass. He gamely rose and matched his opponent’s blows up until the round ended.
Diwani really turned up the heat in the final stanza with several body shots before converting to the head. An especially severe combination connected to the soldier’s head and had him covering up to stem the flow. Miraculously, he withstood the pressure and stayed around to the final bell. However, his effort, though gutsy, proved insufficient and Lampkin was adjudged the unanimous winner.
The jnr/flyweight encounter between Richard Subratee (FYF) and Victor Low (GDF) also had the crowd screaming in delight. The former boxer opened his account with several crunching right crosses but his blows were evenly matched by his opponent. Subratee upped the ante in the second stanza and his aggression forced Low to grab him around the waist to stem the onslaught. The soldier appeared to be spent at the end of the second round but came out in the third determined and ready to face his opponent. He received several ramrod punches but refused to give up, lashing out with lefts and rights. His efforts, though commendable, were insufficient and he surrendered a unanimous verdict.
The feud between the boxers of the GDF and Republican ignited when Mark Marshall, of the former organization and Stephan Henry, of the latter, clashed in the bantamweight division. Both boxers lunged at each other from the first gong and engaged in a toe to toe battle that lasted the duration of the first stanza. It was surely an exhibition of courage and stamina and many were doubtful of the fighters’ ability to sustain the fiery pace.
Those gladiators proved them wrong and resumed the bout with flailing fists. Marshall then landed two clubbing rights that landed on his opponent’s temple, while Andrews refused to say die, responding with crunching blows. The two then became embroiled in a vicious exchange in the neutral corner and were so intent on hurting each other that they failed to hear the bell to end the round; the referee had to jump in and separate them.
A clubbing right greeted Marshall at the start of the final round and forced him to change his mode of attack; he started boxing around while employing jabs and right crosses from long range. Andrews pursued, and caught up with him near the ropes and another vicious exchange characterized the bout. The Republican stepped on the gas and rocked his man with several volleys that forced him to cover up. When the bell sounded, the crowd remained staunch that Marshall had done enough to earn the nod and the judges concurred.
In all, there were four stoppages; jnr/welterweight Marlon Darell (FYF) benefitted from a technical knockout after the referee disqualified Romano Clarke for disobeying orders, while another jnr/welterweight, Colin Lewis (GDF) stopped Republican, Junior Kelly in 1:15secs of the 2nd round. FYF representative, Jason Phillips, needed 2:18secs of the second round to dispose of Enoch John (GDF), while FYF boxer, Ron Smith surrendered a split decision loss to Marley Ross (GDF). The night’s action ended with another stoppage with Desmond Amsterdam (GDF) finishing off Lawrence Lewis in 2:13secs of the first frame. The action continued last night and the finals are scheduled for tonight at the same venue.

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