'Sub-Zero' boosted by win in Barbados

A persistent two-fisted body attack, was the tactic used by Ramel 'Sub Zero' Lewis last Friday night, at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre in St. Michael, Barbados, to earn himself a split decision verdict in his six-round junior middleweight bout against Barbadian Christopher 'Shaka' Henry.

Two judges voted 59-56 each for Lewis, while the other judge voted 58-56 for Henry. This was the main event on a six-bout, Pro-Am Card. In one of the three amateur contests, Jamaica's Felice Groves lost on points to Barbadian Mary Frazer, in a bout in which she should have been declared the winner by tko in the first round.

The Lewis versus Henry contest was a bruising, action-packed affair from start to finish. Henry, who is 6 feet tall, had a distinct reach advantage over the 5' 5" Lewis, and tried to use the jab as his main weapon. Lewis caught on to this quickly, however, and kept boring in successfully. His body shots rattled Henry, who although outgunned, had a few moments of glory himself. Lewis told The Gleaner that Henry was particularly decisive in the fifth round.

"He came on strong in the fifth and caught me with some really good shots, but I was able to hang in there, and then come back strong in the final round," Lewis said. "It was a good hard fight, and I had to work hard to beat Shaka, who had the crowd behind him all the way, and this assisted him."

Lewis added that he was happy for the victory and that it will boost his confidence going into 2017.

Groves met Mary Frazer in a four- round amateur bout, and started aggressively. A recording of the bout showed that within the first 30 seconds of the contest, she was all over Frazer, and caught her with a solid right to the chin that floored her. Frazer landed on her back with legs in the air, but got to her feet as the referee reached the count of two. She stumbled back, however, and was falling to the canvas again, when she was caught by the referee and taken to a neutral corner.

He then spoke with her for about 30 seconds, while she recovered. Instead of awarding the bout to Groves, the referee inexplicably signalled that it be resumed. Frazer survived the remainder of the round, regained her composure in the second round, made it a close contest thereafter and was eventually awarded a points victory.

Coach Carl Grant, who accompanied the boxers to Barbados, told The Gleaner that there was no doubt in his mind that the referee blundered, and that Groves clearly won the bout in the first round.