Oh what a night! Late October in 2006. Another night when boxing in Barbados was dealt a dreadful blow.

Fans of the "tough guy's event" have sent out an SOS for Eliot Ness to come and look into their beloved sport.

They were made to wait for over 90 minutes on Sunday night for the start of a four-bout card. By the time it ended, the diehards who stayed were left wondering if what they saw at the Barbados Community College gymnasium was worth the wait.

Around 9:10 p.m., when the bell went to signal the start of the first contest, there were 57 fans on hand and a babe in a pram. They got thrills, spills, and even some shrills, but nothing in terms of quality. Jet Promotions had billed the night's outing as a "professional" card, but it just did not merit the tag.

Two former national sporting heroes – weightlifter Anthony "Mango" Phillips, and bodybuilder Earl Maynard were in the house. Other patrons included former boxing promoter Eric Sealy, and modern era boxing champions Shaka Henry, Shawn Terry Cox and Anderson Emmanuel.

Of the eight pugilists on show, Marcus Thomas, the former Olympian, was by far the best. Even though he was not at his sharpest, he did not have to be to dispose of a weak Mark Murray in a middleweight mismatch.

Thomas handed his opponent many blows to the body and ended the mess in the third round with a flurry of head blows, one which left Murray nursing a bloody nose.

Ricky Blackman – the Brown Bomber – saw his fledgling pro career reach dizzying heights after his fight with Malcolm Smith was stopped at the end of the first round.

The Bomber was now getting into his stride in this featherweight contest, when Smith complained of dizzy spells. He failed to show in the second round for further punishment and was escorted away by the medical team for observation.

John Trotman was left in a helpless heap as he was pummelled by Richard Howard in the super lightweight contest. Trotman looked wounded in the third round, but fought back with some brave body shots to stretch the contest.

However, midway in Round 4, Howard found his range and rocked Trotman with some heavy left-right combinations to the mid-section.

The opening salvo, between Benjie "Tiger" Modeste and Julian "Thunder" Tannis, was the most competitive, even though it ended after two minutes, 30 seconds in the third round.

Modeste became the wounded Tiger, when he suffered a wound over the left eye from a thunderous right hand. It was too much to handle and Tannis won via TKO.