Marques scores unanimous decision win over Zarraga
The ascension of Dexter ‘De Kid’ Marques in the world flyweight ranks continued Sunday night at the Giftland Mall. In the open-air setting at the Pattensen edifice, Marques (162-0) delivered a whirlwind performance and pounded out a unanimous decision victory against Luis ‘El Nino’ Zarraga (8-9-1) of Venezuela. From the opening bell of the headline bout of the ‘Locked and Loaded’ card, ’De Kid’ stalked and battered his opponent by using superior ring generalship and speed. In the fourth round, a visibly hurt Zarraga tried to tie up Marques to keep from getting hit, but the prize fighter continued to nail him with really hard shots with his short arms, opening cuts on the forehead of the Venezuelan who continued to bleed throughout the 10-round contest. Marques used his superior speed and power to hurt a game Zarraga several times in the fight. However, Marques who was shaking off some ring rust after a long layoff could not end the bout prematurely but went on to win unanimously with scores of 100-89 x 3. Zarraga showed great courage to keep going until the end when it looked like his trainer wanted to pull him out after he was dropped by a crisp right hand just before the end of the eighth round. It was one of the better of Marques 16 wins without a stoppage and he can look with some confidence now to adding to his bank account and reputation as his promoters try to secure a world title crack for the former CABOFE flyweight champ. In the co-feature, Edmond ‘Wonder Boy’ DeClou easily got the better of Winston ‘Steel’ Pompey in a lopsided six-round, super middleweight match up. DeClou won by scores 60-54, 59-55 and 58-56 in a unanimous verdict to improve his record to 17-3-1. Pompey who was dancing to the music at the end of the fight, record dropped to 3-13-3. Elsewhere on the bill, Imran ‘Magic’ Khan got the better of Keeve Allicock in a fight where the ring girls perhaps more entertainment than the two boxers did in the hug fest. Khan got the judges’ nod with scores of 58-56 and 59-55 x 2 in the six-round super lightweight encounter against his fellow Albouystown resident. Prior to the main event, there were four Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fights, the first of its kind in Guyana. Notes: Two lucky patrons also received a ticket apiece from Fly Jamaica to travel to either Jamaica, Canada or the United States of America. Sunday night’s card marked a welcomed return of this fistic sport following eight months of inactivity. It was well organized and attended. Kudos to the coordinators.