—Lennox Blackmore Intermediate boxing c/ships
Quincy Boyce and the Guyana Defense Force (GDF) took home the marquee accolades when the final bell of the Lennox Blackmore Intermediate Championships chimed on Sunday night at the National Gymnasium.
After three nights of fistic fury, Boyce was awarded the coveted best boxer award while the GDF snared the best gym trophy once again.
Fighting in the welterweight division, Boyce was in demolition mode over the weekend, stopping all three of his opponents. First on Friday night, the GDF standout turned back the challenge of Denzil Adams, making light work of the Republic Gym member in the first round.
On Saturday, Boyce’s gym mate, Jamal Crawford proved to be a more worthy opponent, but eventually, the referee was forced to put a stop to the contesting the final round after a series of vicious flurries and standing eight counts.
Boyce returned to the ring on the final night and picked up right where he left off, once again forcing the referee to put a stop to Seon Murray’s night in the opening round.
While Boyce took the top honors in the elite category, Shaquille Wright of the Vergenoegen Boxing Gym, was adjudged the best boxer in the youth division after earning a clinical win via the TKO route in the lightweight category.
The championships which featured a total 27 bouts, in excess of 40 boxers, and seven gyms competing for trophies and bragging rights, was hailed as a success after achieving its objective.
Named after Guyana’s first Commonwealth boxing champion, the fixture is seen as an avenue for spotting and harnessing the talent of the young boxers who could potentially become future world champions. Pacesetters defeated Nets 89-85 in their division one clash, when the Georgetown Amateur Basketball Association [GABA] League Championships continued Sunday at the Burnham Court, Carmichael and Middle Streets.
Michael Turner top scored for the victors with 18 points while Dave Causway and Nathan Saul followed with 15 and 14 points respectively.
Jermaine Hamilton was next on the scorer’s sheet with 10 points, while the trident of Travis Williams, Jaleel Duke and Tarik Cave added nine, nine and eight points respectively.
For Nets, Antwoine Austin bagged an impressive 31 points while the veteran combination of Pelham Doris and Hodyah Stewart supported with 17 and 16 points respectively.
Chipping in with nine points was Fabian Johnson. In what was a highly competitive battle, Nets secured the initial advantage in the first period which ended 21-19.
Pacesetters responded in the second period to level the score at 41-41 entering the halftime break, after marginally outscoring their opponent 22-20.
Nets retook the lead in the pivotal third period, netting 22 points while restricting Pacestters to 20 points to lead 63-61 heading into the final stanza.
However, the home side secured the hard-fought win in the fourth period, outscoring Nets by a 28-22 score.
Meanwhile Plaisance Guardians downed Pacesetters 72-60 in the under-23 division. Terrence Daniels led with 18 points while Delroy Critchlow and Hullman Bovell contributed 11 and 10 points respectively.
Chipping in with eight, six and six points each were Andrew Johnson, Jared Sears and Nigel Bowen. For the home side, Troy David tallied a game high 23 points.
Mark Rose was the next best scorer with 13 points, while George Yearwood and Quincy DosSantos added 10 and five points respectively. The tourney continues tomorrow at the same venue.