Giftland Office Max Appreciation ceremony…Plans moving apace for double commonwealth fights in Guyana

Mar 07, 2016 Sports

---

A steady drizzle failed to put a damper to the card and in the end both IBF Inter-Continental bantamweight champion, Elton ‘The Bully’ Dharry and Dexter ‘The Kid’ Marques stayed on course for a shot at the Commonwealth title in their respective divisions after decisively winning their fights on the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) card dubbed ‘Hostile Territory,’ at the Giftland Shopping Mall, Liliendaal ECD on Saturday February 27.

Dharry forced former IBF World Super Flyweight champion, Venezuelan, Felix Machado, to quit on his stool at the end of the 4th, of their scheduled 8 rounds bantamweight fight, while Dexter ‘The Kid’ Marques out-boxed Freddy Beleno to register a lopsided majority verdict.
Now, merely one week after the final bell had rung, President of the GBBC, Peter Abdool and the CEO of Giftland Office Max Malls, Roy Beepat, are putting the modalities in place for the staging of the Commonwealth title fights, promised to those two winners, tentatively set for May 21.
Kaieteur Sport attended an appreciation ceremony planned by the organizers last Friday evening and held discourse with Beepat and Abdool and they are confident of promoting the fights but said it will require a lot of work and commitment. Notwithstanding, those gentlemen remain adamant of the need for support from government as well as the corporate society.
Mr. Beepat is an astute businessman but is new to boxing promotion. This is the second card at the ECD location following the Dexter Gonsalves/Clive Atwell Fecarbox title fight late last year and the Giftland executive feels that it was highly successful due to the strategic planning of the organizers. “We had convenient parking arrangements, highly efficient staff and superb security,” he said when quizzed of the amenities offered to patrons. He said that he was enthralled by the level of all round support and is already envisaging the same for future cards.
The location has recently been adopted as the new venue for the promotion of fights and Mr. Beepat said that his team is working assiduously to ensure that it fits the bill.  “One learns after every event and I can assure you that we will improve as we go along,” he confided.
The businessman said that he was enthused by the crowd support and despite the many challenges, is prepared to stay around for the long haul.
In response to a question pertaining to the crowd response and if he was encouraged to continue, Mr. Beepat said, “The crowd was vocal and it meant that they enjoyed the show. This is a work in progress and to be honest we were not really expecting an extremely large audience but it must be noted that we are not in this on a short term basis; we are projecting for long term dividends.”  He said that he plans to engage officials from the Sports Ministry as well as the National Sports Commission in relevant discussions.
Mr. Abdool also lauded the Giftland Office Max team and his (GBBC) officials for the hard work that resulted in what he termed ‘a highly successful card.’ Mr. Abdool also feels that Mr. Beepat’s input is extremely valuable towards the effective accomplishment of projected goals. The GBBC boss also made special mention of the amateur fighters who added some spice to the card. “Those youngsters are coming around and are really becoming a valuable asset to the (professional) cards,” said Mr. Abdool.
He supported Mr. Beepat’s view that the sponsors are the oxygen of the cards and lauded their input. “Promotion is very expensive and not as simple as it may seem,” said Abdool. He pointed out that the airfares, fighters’ accommodation and meals plus the cost of advertising the card among other things have been a major bugbear and forced the organizers to intensify efforts at acquiring sponsors. “We have noted an economic downturn which has affected the volume of sponsorship deals and are now thinking outside the box to sustain the cards,” Abdool further explained.
He said that they are experimenting with other variables and have merged the sponsorship packages with side shows which seem to be gelling. “That is why we are attempting sideshows and other attractions,” he explained.
Like Beepat, Abdool is confident of pulling off the Commonwealth title fights even though projected expenditure hovers around $40 million dollars. Should the local organizers fail in their bid to meet the demands then the fights could be shifted to the United Kingdom where a purse bid will decide who acquires promotional rights. “We are working assiduously to negate such an eventuality and I am very optimistic that the fights would be staged right here in Guyana,” exhorted the GBBC President.
He said that his team has joined with the Giftland Office Max team to realize a product that will sell. “This is our pivotal goal,” he said.
Meanwhile, several of the boxers that comprised the last card, referees, judges and other officials, were also present at the function. A large crowd also relived the action when the organizers replayed the fights on a large 50″Smart Led TV, identical to one won by a patron in the just concluded card.

---

---