‘Gloves Over Guns’ turnout enthuses JBB

Stephen ‘Bomber’ Jones, president of the Jamaica Boxing Board (JBB), says the organisation will be looking to capitalise on the increasing levels of community support for the Gloves Over Guns series to nurture the careers of local grass-roots boxers.

Jones said the increasing community engagement could be used to create a following for local boxers while getting them increased ring-time with international opponents to develop their skills promoting the sport to the ordinary Jamaican.

“The boxing was exciting. The crowd loved it, and it shows that we can build from here,” Jones told The Gleaner after A Night of Boxing, a fight night at the Ambassador Theatre in Trench Town, Kingston, on Saturday night. “Boxing is alive and well; we just have to have as much activity as possible.

GROWING SUPPORT

“Gloves Over Guns grows each time. This is the fourth one we’ve had, [and] the communities do come out. Each time, what we are seeing is that the boxers at the grass-roots level are getting better and better, so they are going to get more activity. The more they box and the more they are exposed, the quicker they get a name and a following, so it will grow as we do it,” Jones said.

The main event on Saturday evening saw Russian Vladimir Tereshkin being awarded a World Boxing Council (WBC) International Medal for his whitewash victory over Williams Ocando. Tereshkin looked the ‘natural’ heavyweight of the two men, standing at 6’6” and reportedly weighing in at 253lbs the day before. The Russian wasted no time utilising his size advantage, and as Ocando struggled to get on the inside of his longer reach despite showing good head movement and footwork in the opening rounds. Tereshkin scored consistently throughout the one-sided affair, frequently pushing his man to the ropes and meting out punishment to the body and head. At the opening bell of the ninth, Ocando refused to leave his corner, leaving referee Ian Jardine to declare the contest a TKO victory for the Russian.

Ronson Frank, promoter for the victorious Russian fighter, saluted Ocando’s efforts inside the ring. He described the Venezuelan as a “tough guy” who gave his fighter a stern test after almost two years of inactivity.

“Ocando took a lot of punishment tonight, and he stuck in there for nine hard rounds,” Frank said. “This is exactly what my fighter needed tonight to make him work”.

Lightweight Headley ‘Light’ Scott, a Rastafarian of Jamaican descent, returned a dominating performance against Jesus Laguna, earning a unanimous decision over the Mexican at the end of eight rounds. Scott was able to swarm his opponent along the ropes frequently throughout the bout, much to the delight of the crowd, who wasted no time shouting their approval for his exploits. Laguna, for the most part, had no answers for Scott’s mauling style and was outpointed from start to finish, two of the three ringside judges scoring the fight 80-72 for Scott.

The first professional bout saw American Carlos Dixon defeating Jamaican Toriano Nicholas via a fifth-round technical knockout. Dixon dominated from the opening bell and sent Nicholas’ mouthpiece flying with a vicious straight right hand in the first round. By the fourth, Nicholas was bleeding heavily from a cut on the nose as Dixon pressured relentlessly and landed punches at will. Referee Ian Jardine called a stop to the bout in the middle of the fifth round as the corner was unable to stop Nicholas’ bleeding.