Late show worth it

Patrons attending last weekend’s Lionel Hall/Carlton Hope Memorial Boxing Tournament at the Queen’s Park Steel Shed were forced to wait 90 minutes after the scheduled 7 p.m. before the first bout got under way.
But once it did, they were treated to some exciting and highly competitive fights, concluding with Ricardo Blackman Jr’s impressive victory over Guyana’s Joel Williamson.
The delay, due to the late arrival of both the site doctor and boxing gloves, was a blot on an otherwise outstanding event hosted by the Barbados Boxing Association.
Pinweights Iwesika Austin and Ahkel Harewood started off the night’s proceedings, with the former emerging victorious.
The diminutive Austin was an evident crowd favourite, and he showed good technique in defeating his bigger opponent.
The speedy Jabali Breedy then made light work of Guyana’s Junior Henry in their light flyweight contest.
So confident was he, that after landing a series of punches to Henry’s head, he started to taunt his opponent, evoking laughter from the small crowd on hand.
Guyana’s Orin Bancroft then scored a major upset, when he was surprisingly given the nod against Barbados’ Ajayi Jones, although most fans thought Jones was the superior boxer.
Ision Fraser was bullish in dismissing Shamar Goodridge, and Antonio Rollins saved his comeback a bit too late, going under to Jamal Piggott.
Ch’vanni Forde and Stevenson Lythcott had a tight battle, with Forde being adjudged the winner, while middleweight Cabral Foster crushed Shaquille Goring.