Amsterdam, Glasgow, Headley advance to the finals of Terrance Ali National Open Boxing Championships

Dec 19, 2022 Sports

– Desmond Amsterdam (right) in action with Corwin D’Anjou.

Kaieteur News – The second night into to the competition at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue set up a ‘final night’ thriller last evening with the likes of AMBC middleweight champion Desmond ‘Dynamite’ Amsterdam as well as the heavy hitting Aubrey Headley, Troy Glasgow, the Surinamese Samuel ‘too slick’ Greene, Mark ‘fly boy’ Crawford and Richard Howard advancing into the final of the competition.

Saturday evening was an exciting night of competition, starting the proceedings at approximately 7:45pm with an exciting exhibition match between Shakquain James and Tiquan Sampson.

The night had 15 bouts carded for the evening, beginning with two school boys match-ups followed by 13 Elite matches.

Match #1- in the 41-43Kgs school boys category Okenwa Bushel (RHJ) went up against Kendel Demonic (FYF) of which Demonic won the match after his opponent Bushel abandoned the contest handing over an easy win to Demonic. In match #2 – 47-49Kgs category, Euancy Marshall VS Matthew Thomas. Marshall appeared to be the better fighter on the night, winning the contest by a unanimous decision. At this time the National Open Boxing Championship fans started to pour through the gates of the National Gymnasium.

The Elites Semi finals got on the way with match #3- 48Kgs minimum-weight, seeing Richard Subratee (FYF) trashing his opponent Ronaldo Sutton (GDF). Though he (Subratee) was served some hard body-shots from the ‘short stature’ Sutton. Subratee went on to win the match by way of the judge’s decision.

In match #4 and #5, Michael Maynard (GDF) VS Joel Williamson (RHJ) and Jermain Grant (GDF) VS Richard Howard in the lightweight 57-60Kgs division, Williamson won the contest over Maynard, after Maynard‘s coach Terrance Poole called off the match two minutes and four seconds into the 2^nd round and Howard defeated his opponent Grant by way of an unanimous decision, both winners advancing into the finals.

Mark Crawford (FYF)

After that, action went straight into match #6 – welterweight division- 63-67Kgs, with only a single match between Donovan Richardson (POL) VS Mark Crawford (FYF). Crawford with a win on Friday, came up against the Policeman’s heavy fist, being hit a few times about the body in the 1^st round. Nevertheless, he fought his way back into the contest, landing his effective jabs to the body of Richardson, adding some class and flare to the fight. Crawford went on to win the match-up by way of the judge’s decision.

At this point there were only 6 bouts left to close the evening due to a few no-shows, moving into match #7 between the two servicemen in the light-middleweight 67-71Kgs category. Colin Hinds (GDF) went up against Clifton Graham (POL), Graham proved his resilience by coming back to win the match after being struck down by the soldier in the 1^st round. Graham won the contest by way of unanimous decision at the end of the three rounds.

Aubrey Headley (GDF) stands over Leandro Dongo after the knock down.

In what was considered the main event of the evening, fans were thrilled with a brief speck of superb boxing.

In match #8 between the AMBC middleweight champion Desmond ‘dynamite’ Amsterdam representing the GDF boxing gym competed against Mixed Martial Art champion Corwin D’Anjou out of the Police Boxing Gym in the light-heavyweight 87-92Kgs division. Sorely, fans were heartbroken and robbed of two rounds after D’Anjou abandoned the contest before the end of the 1^st round, handing over an easy win to the ‘Dynamite’ Amsterdam.

Match #9, in the heavyweight 86-92Kgs division, Kevin Harris (VBG) and Emmanuel Pompey (WPBG) were given easy wins to advance to the finals. Harris defeated Trevon King out of the GDF boxing gym by way of a split decision, while Pompey proved he was too good for Dwayne July (GDF), winning the contest by a huge margin.

Closing the night were two super-heavyweight match-ups in the +92Kgs weight class. Match #10 – seeing Leandro ‘quiet storm’ Dongo out of Suriname going up against ‘hard hitting’ Aubrey Headley (GDF). The Surinamese looked good in the ring, standing in a solid south-paw stance and managed to put on a good show for the Gymnasium crowds but failed to protect his head in the 2^nd round. Headley sought the opportunity and skillfully sent a ferocious punch to his head, hitting the Surinamese to his knees. The referee subsequently was force to stop the contest two minutes and six seconds into 2^nd round, rewarding Headley with his 2^nd win for the competition.

In match #11 – Troy Glasgow (GDF) ended the contest between him and Christopher James (POL) with a combination of body shots which proved too much for James. As a result, he (James) abandoned the match ten seconds into the contest.

In addition to that, there were four ‘no show’ matches, winners of these contest were Deron Williams as well as Komal Kissoon, Jamal Eastman and Colin Lewis. Competition continued with the final night last night.

The event was made possible by the efforts of the Guyana Boxing Association, Terrance Ali, John Fernandes Limited and Slingerz Family.