Pro-Am boxing returns to Corporate Area tonight

Professional and amateur boxing will return to the Corporate Area tonight, with a six-fight Pro-Am card promoted by Bruising Gym led by trainer Carl Grant in association with I-Fight promoters Chris Joy and Junior Lincoln and sponsors Dunn’s Electrical. Dubbed “Boxing On The Roof”, the action will take place at the headquarters of Dunn’s Electrical at 15 1/2 Red Hills Road, in St Andrew, which is also the new headquarters of the formerly Stony Hill-based gym. Fight time is 8:00 p.m.

Dunn’s Electrical has configured its roof top as a sports venue, with artificial turf and adequate seating for spectators that can accommodate various sports. Football and boxing have been the most prominent users of the space so far.

Tonight’s fight card will see Kevin Hylton taking on Toriano Nicholas in a welterweight professional bout over six rounds, while Fabian Tucker will be challenged by Alando Lewis in a middleweight fight over four rounds. The four amateur bouts will see boxers from Bruising Gym going up against boxers from the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF). In announcing the card earlier this week, Grant said that this was his gym’s effort to inject life into the sport as gym operators are making an effort to help themselves.

Chris Joy, one of the principals in I-Fight promotions, told The Gleaner yesterday that his company has several promotions in the pipeline for Jamaica this year, and ­working with Bruising Gym in this ­promotion is an act of faith on their part.

“We believe in Jamaica’s boxing and plan to be very busy this year,” he added.

Apart from providing the purse money for the main bout, I-Fight has also donated belts instead of medals for the winners of the amateur bouts. Grant said yesterday that all participants would go home with a boxing-related prize. The purse money for the four-rounder was donated by Dunn’s Electrical.

The professional bouts should be exciting. Hylton and Nicholas, the headliners on the card, are expected to go after each other early, and Nicholas said yesterday that he would not be fazed by Hylton’s experience. Lewis, one of Jamaica’s leading amateur middleweights, will be making his professional debut against the aggressive Tucker, and this should also be full of action.

Some of the amateurs who will be on show for Bruising Gym are Omar Campbell and Shevon Lindo, boosted by Kirk Thompson, a Jamaican boxer visiting from Canada. Marvin Shea, Patrick Sahadeo, and Damion Williams will lead the charge for the JDF.