Sport Ministry pledges Government’s support for ‘Guyana Fight Night, Road to Redemption’ 

Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Charles Ramson Jr., has pledged Government’s support for the ‘Guyana Fight Night, Road to Redemption’ card, scheduled for April 23 at the National Stadium at Providence, EBD.

The principals of the six-fight international boxing event have met with Minister Ramson, Director of Sport Steve Ninvalle, and Chairman of the National Sports Commission Kashif Muhammad at that Ministry’s Main Street Georgetown premises yesterday.

During that meeting, Ramson stopped short of putting a specific figure to the magnitude of support the Government would undertake, but promised to assist the fixture, which will be headlined by Elton Dharry, with Dexter ‘De Kid’ Marques co-featuring.
“We will be supporting this event. We like Elton, and we look forward to partnering with you to make this event a success,” Ramson said yesterday.
The card, which has an international flavour, with a blend of talented youth and experience, would see the return of Imran ‘Magic’ Khan, James Walcott and Quincy Gomes. Also, debutants Stephen Da Silva and Richard James would match gloves in a four-round lightweight contest.
In the feature bout of the evening, the USA-based Dharry will face the undefeated Orlando Penalba of Panama, who has an unblemished record of 12 fights with one draw.
Dharry, who has a large fan base in Guyana, will fight for the spoils of the WBC international super flyweight title, while Marques will face flyweight Gilberto Pedroza, another native of Panama, in the co-main event.
Khan will take on Anthony Narine in a six-round middleweight bout, while Walcott will ‘lace it up’ against James Moore in a four-round light heavyweight fight.
Gomes, one of the brightest local prospects, will look to add another ‘W’ to his record when he takes on Barbados-based Charwin Estwick for the local junior middleweight title.
Dharry, a skilful 36-year-old orthodox fighter, knows that Father Time is perusing his career, and he plans to put on a show in front of the local boxing-starved fans.
“My main aim is to win big fights and get another crack at the world title”, said Dharry, who was scheduled to arrive in Guyana yesterday.
Dharry has been calling out world champions in his division, and has fought for the WBA Super Flyweight title in 2019. However, he lost to Andrew Maloney in the latter’s hometown of Melbourne, Australia in a controversial ninth-round stoppage, after the ringside doctor stopped the fight due to an eye injury when, Dharry said, he was dominating.
Dharry has improved his record to 25-6-1 with 15 KOs with a first-round stoppage of his last opponent last July. He says his ultimate dream is to win a world title for Guyana.