“Sangre Malo” lived up to all expectations and saw close to a capacity turnout at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall on Saturday evening; an occurrence which has not happening for quite some time.
The Guyanese boxers had mixed fortunes on the night with some hard fought
L-R: Ray Campbell Jr, Trainer Lennox Blackmore, WBC FECARBOX Champion Sheldon Lawrence and the Referee
battles; however, the standouts for the night were Elton “The Bully” Dharry and Dexter “The Kid” Marques who each produced master classes in the ring.
Dharry who described his clash with Venezuelan Jesus Vargas as “brutal” made it 19 consecutive victories since 2009. “The Bully” found tough opposition in Vargas who took a battering but meted some punishment as well.
In the first round Dharry came out of his corner with guns blazing and scored an early knockdown, however Vargas recovered and while he could not fend off Dharry he didn’t back down either.
Dharry who has been one of Guyana’s best boxers in the last decade came into the fight in top condition and it showed as he punched his way to a unanimous win on the judges’ cards. Across the three cards Dharry won 80-71 to remain undefeated at the CASH arena.
Meanwhile Marques showed supreme conditioning throughout his 10 round flyweight co-main event clash with Dionis Martinez. He also notched up a unanimous decision winning 98-92 and 91-91 on two of the three cards.
“The Kid” showed superior technical skill and while Martinez had no answer he showed a lot of heart and an iron chin to last the distance with the hard hitting Marques. Speaking to the media immediately after the fight Marques explained that he is feeling in fine form and superior physical conditioning ahead of his Commonwealth Flyweight title fight against Jay Harris in the Copperbox Arena, Wales, UK.
In the other co-main event, the only title fight of the night, Guyana’s Shawn Corbin was stopped by the current WBC FECARBOX Light Heavyweight champion Sheldon Lawrence (Trinidad and Tobago) in the 11th round of their 12 round fight.
Corbin was leading on the judges’ cards in the first half of the fight but Lawrence staged a comeback while Corbin took his foot off the gas; two minutes 52 seconds into the 11th round Lawrence landed a solid left hook to Corbin’s temple and it was lights out, however as the latter fell to the canvas he hit his head and was left unconscious for quite a few minutes and had to be stretchered out of the arena and rushed to the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC).
Dexter “Cobra” Gonzalez stumbled in his clash against the stocky Felipe Barcelo who was adjudged the winner of their 10 round lightweight fight via unanimous decision winning 98-90 and 98-91 on two of the three judges’ cards.
While Gonzalez had a superior reach advantage, the shorter Barcelo was more aggressive and had the “Cobra” cornered on several occasions, however the latter is known for his heavy punching and he had Barcelo on the ropes on a few occasions but failed to capitalize on the openings thus losing out via points.
Earlier in the night debutant James Moore suffered a second round KO against Sheldon Clarke while Anson Green also lost via the same way in his light welterweight fight with Barbados’ Keithland King.
Boxing fans and sports enthusiasts alike left the CASH satisfied and well entertained; they will be pleased to know that the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) and the promoter Nexgen Global Marketing are planning another international fight card for next month end.
