JDF remain national boxing champions
FIELDING A very fit and talented team of boxers, the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) came out on top in the Jamaica Boxing Board’s National Senior Amateur Championships, which took place at the Stanley Couch gym. On Victoria Avenue in Kingston from Thursday to Saturday last week. Twelve gyms participated, and the soldiers, who at one time seemed unlikely to defend their title because of their duties, made it and ended up on top with 28 points. They, however, had a stiff challenge from Stanley Couch gym, which was were second with 22 points.
In other team placings, St Thomas Boxing Club scored 20, G. C. Foster 18, Heavy Metal Gym 17, Bruising Gym nine, Oracabessa Gym eight, Sugar Olympic, Dream Sport and Seaview gyms five points each, and Lennox Lewis Gym one point. Boys’ Town was the only gym not to score a point. Competition was in the Novice Class for boxers with less than five bouts on their records and the Open Elite Class.
Marvin Shea from the JDF, who was voted the outstanding boxer of the competition, performed well in both the semi-finals and the finals of the lightweight division and scored close and exciting victories, respectively, over first Sanjay Williams from Bruising and then Ricardo Carter from Dream Sport. Williams, like Shea, is an aggressive boxer who likes to fight at close range. Both men, therefore, decided to test each other, and it was non-stop action throughout the contest. Shea then met Carter, who is an accomplished boxer with good ring smarts in the final, and as expected, there was a lot of action in all three rounds. Shea took the title with a close victory.
Joshua Frazer, who lives in Canada but came to Jamaica for the Championships, was a cut above his opponents in the welterweight class and had an easy passage to the finals, where he defeated Joel Williams from St Thomas. The St Thomas bantamweight Anthony Burke took the title home, however, by defeating Andre Sloley from Heavy Metal. Patrick Sahadeo from the JDF won the junior welterweight title by defeating Samuel Grant from Sugar Olympic. Ian Darby from the JDF had to work hard to keep his light heavyweight title as Oshane Cleary made an impressive return to the ring after a long lay-off.
HARD AND FURIOUS
Alando Lewis from Heavy Metal fought hard and furious, but Stanley Couch’s Janathan Hanson got the nod from the judges after three hard-fought rounds.
Omar Campbell from Bruising gym, who, until recently, fought at light heavyweight, moved up to heavyweight and took the title by defeating Jermaine Richards from Stanley Couch. Super heavyweight Frank McKenzie from the JDF had too much power for Winsett Scarlett from Stanley Couch.
Coach Gilbert Vaz, who led the JDF team, was voted the outstanding coach; Robert Napier, who coaches the St Thomas team, was given a special award for his contribution to the sport; and Marvin Shirley from Oracabessa was voted the outstanding novice boxer.