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Stanley Couch upstage JDF in boxing champs

Published:Sunday | December 9, 2018 | 12:00 AMLeroy Brown/Gleaner Writer

Spearheaded by three international representatives, super heavyweight Ricardo Brown, middleweight Janathan Hanson and welterweight Joshua Frazer-Stanley Couch gym, pulled off an upset victory over defending champions, the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) to take top honours in the 2018 Senior National Boxing Championships. The championships ended at the gym on Victoria Avenue in Kingston on December 1.

Competition lasted three nights, and 10 gyms from all over Jamaica participated. Stanley Couch ended up with 29 points, the JDF 24, Bruising gym 17, GC Foster 11, Dream Sports and Repton from England eight each, St Thomas six, Savanna-la-Mar five, and Sugar Olympic and Oracabessa one point each.

There were two classes: Novice, for boxers with less that five bouts on their record, and Elite Open. Competition was keen all three nights, and especially so on the final night, when there were some exciting contests. The bout that ended earliest was the final one on the card in the super heavyweight division. In that bout, Brown took on Frank McKenzie from the JDF and floored him three times in the first round. Referee Anthony Fuller called it off after the third knockdown at 2 minutes and 27 seconds.

The most exciting bout of the night was the heavyweight contest between Omar Campbell from Bruising gym and Rayon Sinclair from the JDF. This produced action from the start, and Campbell, a former middleweight champion who has now blossomed into a competent heavyweight, looked very promising. He has to bring the jab into his repertoire, however, if he is to flourish in the division.

Frazer had a hard fight in the semi-finals, where he won by split decision over Repton's Romario Wallace. He had it easy in the finals, however, against Kevanna Willis from the JDF to win by unanimous decision. Hanson had to pull out all the stops to defeat Alando Lewis from Savanna-la-Mar in the middleweight finals.

Campbell was voted Outstanding Open-Class Boxer, Emron Hall, the novice welter-weight champion, was voted Outstanding Novice Boxer. Robert Napier from St Thomas was voted Outstanding Coach, and the JDF were voted the Most Disciplined Team.