C’bean School boys & Girls C/Ships.... Moore (boys) & McFarlane (girls) adjudged best boxers as Guyana retains title

C’bean School boys & Girls C/Ships…. Moore (boys) & McFarlane (girls) adjudged best boxers as Guyana retains title

Aug 21, 2018 Sports

Guyana had the largest team and won the title for the 3rd successive year. (Sean Devers photo)

T&T’s Coach Ria Ramnarine (left) presents the Best female Boxer trophy to Jamaican Britney McFarlane. (Sean Devers photo)

By Sean Devers
For the third night in a row the three-night third annual Caribbean School boys and Girls Boxing Championships began close to two hours late and for the third year in a row Guyana emerged Champions.
When this year’s Championships concluded on Sunday night at the National Gymnasium, Guyana’s Leon Moore and Jamaican Britney McFarlane were adjudged Best Boxer for Boys and Girls respectively.
On a night which saw the largest turn out, 12 bouts were carded but the Exhibition bout between Theresa Johnson and Malika Pierre was called off but the atmosphere created by the vocal crowd was much better than other nights.
The action began with a 30-33KG local school boys match-up in which Mosses Crawford got the better of Hazel Adams before the International bouts commenced with the female contest between 16-year-old Jamaican Britney McFarlane and 16-year-old McKenzie Secondary school student Akea Lamazon.
Lamazon, whose first fight after a year’s break from Boxing to focus on her CXC exams was in the National School boy and Girls Championship at the Andrew ‘Six Head’ Lewis Gym in Albouystown earlier this month, exchanged punches with the lass from Reggae Country who was eventually adjudged the best female school girl Boxer in the Caribbean.
The young ladies traded shots throughout the fight with both boxers showing aggression and confidence and at the end of the first round McFarlane seemed slightly ahead.
The action intensified in the second round as the Guyanese counter punched with some good body blows as McFarlane employed left jabs to good effect but Lamazon appeared to land the bigger shots.
Both fighters increased the tempo as both girls looked in danger of running out of gas in the final round.
McFarlane was caught with a straight right and she was given a standing eight count but retaliated with shots of her own and at the end of a keenly fought battle that could have gone either way, McFarlane was given the nod.

Best male Boxer Guyanese Leon Moore collects his trophy from Pepsi Marketing Rep Sherrese Leander. (Sean Devers photo)

T&T’s Abdul Taylor was knocked out by a brutal Upper cut by Guyanese Richard Howard. (Sean Devers photo)

In the Light Bantam Weight encounter which followed, the highly skilful Leon Moore enhanced his growing reputation with a devastating display of clean punching against Jamaican Ashwaney Lawes who started confidently in the first half of the opening round with some nice jabs which kept his man away.
But Moore, the son of former PABA’s Super Bantamweight Champions Leon ‘Hurry-up’ Moore, fighting out of an orthodox stance, unlike his dad who was a South paw, scored with punches in bunches and Lawes was given a standing eight-count towards the end of the first round of three.
Moore was all over his man at the start of round two with a barrage of vicious combinations and another eight count was administered to the Jamaican.
A succession of powerful shots to the body backed up Lawes on the ropes forcing Referee Richard Braithwaite to step in to stop the fight in 1:07 seconds of the penultimate round to save Lawes from further punishment from the murderous onslaught.
Shemar Morrison beat Jamal Mercier in a local battle, while in the International Junior Light Flyweight bout, Guyana’s Richard Howard knocked out the nibble T&T’s Abdul Taylor with a thunderous upper cut to his chin to send him sprawling to the canvas with 10 seconds left in a fight that the Trini seemed to be leading by making Morrison miss most of his shots.
Ring doctors Shawn Legall and the daughter of Olympic Bronze Medallist (Guyana’s only medal) Mike Parris, revived Taylor to the applause of the partisan crowd.
In a Lightweight match-up, T&T’s Blessing Waldropt, who toned down his antics from the second night, got the judges verdict against Guyana’s Mark Crawford despite being hurt in the final round when he got a standing eight count.
Faith Ramnauth of T&T won by TKO in 1:36 seconds of the first round against Guyanese Anylais Trellis in their female Flyweight battle, while Jermaine Williams beat fellow Guyanese Jevon Thomas in a Middleweight contest.
Guyana Aleshia Jackman, in her first ‘big’ fight, was too good for T&T’s Alica King, while Francis Shukhu of Guyana defeated T&T’s Tarique Hosein in a fight in which both boxers seemed reluctant to throw punches.
In the last fight of an entertaining night, Guyana’s Christopher Moore won by TKO in 1:35 seconds of round one.
A minute’s silence was observed for former Guyana light Heavyweight boxer Alfred Thomas who was laid to rest on Sunday, while Kester Harding spoke about domestic violence.

Guyana’s Leon Moore showed why he is the Caribbean’s best School boy Boxer with the clinical destruction of Jamaican Ashwaney Lawes. (Sean Devers photo)