The Queen’s Park Steel Shed buzzed with excitement on Friday night as boxing returned to the venue after a decade-long hiatus with the staging of the Ronald Wilson Memorial Caribbean Champions Tournament, hosted by the Barbados Boxing Association.
The first night of the two-day boxing event featured eight bouts, showcasing talent from Barbados, Guyana, Martinique, and St Lucia, with a decent crowd rallying behind the local fighters.
The main attractions of the night unfolded in the Open Elite category. The Open Elite action began with Abishai Jn Baptiste of Barbados squaring off against Maxime Alexandre of Martinique in the 60-63.5 kilogram light welterweight division.
Alexandre showed no mercy, targeting Baptiste with jabs throughout the match to score easy points, and ultimately went the full distance to secure victory.
In the second Open Elite lightweight bout, Barbados’ Peter Murray immediately took an aggressive approach against his Guyanese opponent, Colin Lewis, taking aim at his upper body. Though Murray kept his gloves up, Lewis found a momentary lapse and responded with a powerful right cross that knocked Murray off his feet, leading referee David Straughan to end the match prematurely, awarding the win to Lewis.
The third and final Open Elite fight showcased St Lucia’s Keagan Mortley against Anthony Maugee of Martinique in the 71-75 kilogram middleweight division. Maugee, fighting out of the blue corner, emerged as the predictable winner.
Local favourite Aaron Cadogan from Four Hill Gym faced off against Guyana’s Keyon Britton in the minimum weight (46-48 kg) category, consisting of three two-minute rounds. Despite a brief ringside examination of Britton, the Guyanese fighter emerged victorious, much to the disappointment of the home crowd.
In the welterweight division (63-67 kg), Barbados’ Jaheem Estwick took on Terron Wintz of Guyana. In a closely contested bout, both fighters traded heavy punches, with Wintz managing to corner Estwick and land some significant shots, in the end earning the nod of the judges.
Another notable matchup featured John Didier of St Lucia against Barbados’ Wayne Clarke in the light middleweight (75-80 kg) division. Didier dominated the bout from the outset, securing a victory just 1:29 into the first round.
The evening commenced with an exhilarating light middleweight bout (67-71 kg) between hometown boys Malachi Grant of Belfield Gym and Jermaine Estwick of Estwick Gym. Estwick’s powerful punches and strategic targeting of Grant’s midsection ensured his victory, even though Grant managed to go the full distance.
Another local match in the 71-75 kilogram middleweight showdown also took place. Lashon Codrington of Belfield Gym was declared the winner over Shakeer Johnson of Four Hill Gym. Codrington’s powerful hooks had Johnson in trouble multiple times, prompting referee Straughan to check on both of the fighters’ health during the match.
The tournament concludes on Saturday at the Steel Shed venue from 7 p.m., with the crowning of the Super Heavyweight Champion of Barbados. (AS)
