By Treiston Joseph
It was definitely punches in bunches on Sunday when the curtains came down on the second edition of the ‘Nuff Cuff’ Caribbean School Boys and Junior championships that was held at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue. Guyana did not lose a final on the last night of action, winning all three of the bouts they were in by pummelling their opponents with a lot of punches.
Ryan Albert was the first to give Guyana international glory on the night against Kareem Boyce of St. Lucia in the 60kg youth final. The two had a back and forth affair, as they both tried to out punch each other in the three-round affair.
Albert survived two early standing eight counts in the first round to take the win by stopping Boyce with three standing eight counts in round two. In the 57kg junior final, Shaquille Wright of Guyana punched his to victory via a Technical Knockout over Blessing Waldropt of Trinidad.
This bout definitely signified the ‘Nuff Cuff’ slogan as Wright, even after losing the first round with his overly aggressive style, simply out punched the Trinidadian who could not hang on with the energy output of Wright.
Brian Harris was the final boxer to make Guyana proud. The most technically sound boxer for Guyana on the night emerged with a win over Bajan Dario Cheeseman in the 75kg junior final. Harris exhibited a combination of aggressiveness and patience to out duel Cheeseman, who showed the ability to pick his spots in the bout as well.
However, the consistency of Harris to land big punches was what got him the win as Cheeseman could not avoid his third-standing eight-count in the match.
Meanwhile, one of the best bouts of the night was the 64kg youth final between St. Lucia’s Nathan Ferrari and Jamaica’s Daniel Hilton. Both boxers had the poise of champions and engaged in a tactical bout that was in total contrast to the night’s action that was more about out punching the opponent.
Ferrari seemed the more powerful boxer, picking and choosing his areas to attack with solid combinations both to the head and body, while Hilton moved smoothly around the ring, attacking from angles to get in his shots. However, while the fight was definitely the most compelling, Ferrari’s ability to land more punches consistently gave him a unanimous decision over his Jamaican opponent.
Meanwhile, in other international action; Rushwan McKinney (Jamaica) won via TKO in Round 1 vs Donte Powlett (Barbados) in the 81kg youth final; Denzel Massey (Trinidad) in the 63kg junior final defeated Tevin Brewster (Barbados) via split decision; and Nickel Joseph (Trinidad) in the 75kg youth final defeated Jerome Ennis (Jamaica) via TKO 20 seconds before the final bell.
In other action: Martin Mugabe vs Shaquancy Wright (35kg)- Wright won via unanimous decision; Kome Keiler vs Jaquwan Milo (52kg School Boys)- Milo won via split decision.
