HOSKINS?WORRELL?says he will be razor-sharp and a certainty for the $4 000 first prize cheque at the forthcoming Darcy Beckles Invitational Classic slated for October 29 at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre.
Worrell, the 2008 Mr Barbados winner, who has won each of the previous three contests, told the SUNDAY?SUN, it will be tough preventing him from achieving a four-peat.
“I am in top shape. Everything is on schedule. I have put in the hard work and will be hard, cut and full. The rest are looking for second place,” he said.
Worrell will be making his first appearance on the stage since last November’s event, during which time has gotten married, tying the knot with Roxanne Phillips a few months ago.
“I am a family man now and this will a good gift to them. It is going to be a good show and I know the boys will be in shape, but it is going to be hard to stop me,” he said.
Stevenson Belle, who has won three contests this year including Mr Barbados and the Caribbean light heavyweight class, is expected to be the one to provide the biggest threat to Worrell.
Belle has the muscle detail to match them all but he may be outgunned in the size department by Worrell.
Ricardo “Cou Cou”?Bascombe, who pulled out of the nationals at the last minute missing out on a showdown with Belle, reportedly has plenty to prove and nothing less than a top three place will do.
Patrick Harris, who was second in last year’s contest, returns to the stage seeking more glory along with former national team captain Anderson “Fish”?Bispham, a former Caribbean lightweight champion.
Ramon Broomes, winner of Junior Caribbean for the last three years, is expected to be in the line-up for the Classic as well as the Open contest that opens the programme.
Owen Dottin, Mr Barbados 2006, is flexing muscle for the first time in two years, his last appearance being at the 2009 Central American and Caribbean (CAC)?Championships in Grenada when he took the silver medal in the middleweight division.
At 5 ft, 3 in, Dottin, may be the shortest man in the contest but he will step on stage with huge quads and arguably the biggest arms.
The biggest man on stage will be the imposing Guyanese Eustace Abraham, who will showcase beefy shoulders, and the widest and thickest back. If the top notch security officer can come in good condition, he will be a major threat.
The contest is being held in honour of the celebrated Beckles, who won every major local and Caribbean contest during his heyday and was the spearhead of Barbados’ assault on the Mr Universe stage from 1976-79.
Beckles, recently retired from the Government-run National Sports Council where he served as a sessional coach for three decades.
