Guyanese Stephon Da Silva wins WBL Title in Australia

Sep 13, 2022 Sports

Gairy St Clair Superhero Fight Night…

By Sean Devers

Stephon Da Silva is flanked by Gairy St Clair (right) & Clive Atwell after his triumph

At the age of 47, Gairy St Clair is the last of four Guyanese Men to win a ‘recognised’ World Title and now, making his debut as a Promoter in Australia, has created the opportunity for a Guyanese to travel down under to win a WBL World title.

While not as prestigious as those titles won by Andrew ‘Six Heads’ Lewis, Wayne ‘Big truck’ Braithwaite, Vivian Harris or St. Clair himself, Stephon Da Silva’s achievement is testimony that the hard work put in by the Boxer and the Promotion team in Sydney paid off., and this is surely a reason for Guyanese to celebrate.

Last Saturday night, Da Silva, with a single Pro fight under his belt, defeated Fiji’s William Mel in feature bout of the Gairy St Clair Superhero Pro Fight Night in Sydney, Australia, to become the new WBL Junior Lightweight World Title holder.

Watched by a capacity crowd at the Coliseum Theatre, a venue hosting its first ever Boxing Card, Da Silva produced an excellent showing to outbox his opponent from Fiji.

The fight lasted just two rounds before Mel’s corner threw in the towel as their fighter failed to answer the bell for the third round.

Stephon Da Silva about to be declared the WBL Champion on Saturday night in Australia.

The Gairy St Clair Superhero Pro Fight Night also featured three other fights, including two title fights. Syed Muhammad Asif of Pakistan defeated Fiji’s Ram Anuj to become the WBL Asia-Pacific Flyweight title holder and Australia’s Connie Chan prevailed over countrywoman Kaitlyn Lodge to become the WBL Super-Welterweight World Champion.

Australia’s Tim Hannan beat Fiji’s Nepote Dawadawa in the Cruiserweight division.

Guyanese Clive Atwell, who fought Kye Mc Kenzie for the Interim PABA super featherweight title in Melbourne, Australia and is now a Coach, returned to the continent to Coach and do Commentary on Card.

“To be able to see Stephan Da Silva become my home Country’s new world champion on my own fight night is something incredibly special for me. I am happy that I have been able to give this talented fighter the opportunity of a life time,” said St Clair, who represented Guyana at the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Canada.

“It was a dream come true for me to know I can promote a big international boxing show and to know I can give a kid from Georgetown a chance. A kid who came from nothing and now he is on top of the world. He is the world champ.”

“It shows with a bit of hope and hard work, and the right people around you, and with the right dedication to boxing anything can happen. Stephan Da Silva is the one who has shown the people of Guyana what you can do with all these things. His win is going to change boxing in Guyana,” added St Clair, who fought in 21 professional bouts in Guyana, America and Canada.

St Clair said he was very proud of how things turned out on his first venture as a promoter.

“It was a wonderful night. My team and I put on a great show and the world got to see what we had done. Stephan is the one who is going to change boxing for Guyana. He has the right amount of dedication and all the skills. A kid who came from nothing, he did everything right. I am very proud of him,” posited St Clair.

Sinclair, who moved to Australia in 2001, opened the Gairy St Clair Boxing Fitness Gym in 2017 and was inducted into the Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame last month in Melbourne.

He noted that wants to bring the same atmosphere and excitement back to Guyana.

“With the right publicity, and the support of the people, business entities and government in Guyana, I am confident that this can be done,” concluded St Clair.

Shoba Da Silva, Stephon’s Manager and wife, said she was ‘over the moon’ with happiness and she is extremely proud of her husband for achieving his dream of becoming a world champion.

“This was our dream. He worked so hard to get to this point… can’t wait for him to come home and celebrate with our family and supporters.”

“Achieving this goal will help in restoring boxing both pro and amateur, back on the fore front of sports in Guyana. We both hope to not just inspire and encourage, but also motivate the men and women both young and old to go after their dreams and step up and participate in the ring.”

“It all stems from hard work and determination. It’s never too late or early. So get to a gym and sign up and start training, big things are coming trust me on this. It’s going to be a new age for boxing in Guyana,” the Champ’s elated Manager stated, who thanked the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Hon. Charles Ramson Jr., for providing the cost of his airfare to Australia.

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