Bess confident of upstaging Cox

By Avenash Ramzan –

Despite being out of the ring for the past 16 months, heavyweight Kurt Bess is confident of upstaging Barbados-based Guyanese, Shawn “The Sniper” Cox, when they clash in an eight-round heavyweight contest on the 28th edition of the Guyana Friday Night Fights ProAm boxing card on May 31.
The card will be held at the Sophia Exhibition Centre for the first time, and the Bess/Cox showdown is a rematch of their December 2011 clash, which Cox won emphatically by knocking him out in the first round to lift the WBC/CABOFE cruiserweight title at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

Incidentally, that was Bess’ last outing, but the 34-year-old told Guyana Times International Sport via telephone on Saturday that being out of action for more than a year will have no bearing on his performance next month.
“I have been training all along, so I’m in shape to fight,” Bess pointed out.
The 6’4” pugilist is currently under the watchful eyes of veteran trainer George Oprecht, popularly known as “Kanchee”, at the Andrew “Six Head” Lewis gym in Albouystown.
According to Bess, he is currently engaged in gym work from 15:00h to 18:00h daily, while his morning runs are being done to build his stamina ahead of the fight. “I’m going for a win, that’s my prediction. If the knockout comes I’ll take it,” Bess promised.
Questioned on whether he has any message for Cox leading up the bout, Bess said he would refrain from indulging in any thrash talk, as he will let his fists do the talking on fight night.
Bess’ record stands at five wins and five losses in 10 encounters.
The 6’1” Cox has fought three other opponents since the Bess match-up, including that infamous bout against Guyana’s former world cruiserweight champion Wayne “Big Truck” Braithwaite, in February, 2012.
Dubbed a knockout specialist, the 38-year-old Cox, who will be fighting with the colours of Guyana for the first time, has notched up 17 wins (16 KOs) and two losses from 19 fights.
In the feature fight of the night, Trinidad and Tobago-based Dexter Gonsalves will face Barbados-based Revlon Lake for the vacant junior lightweight title of Guyana.
In the other three professional fights, Eversley Brown and debutant Romeo Norville will collide in a four-round middleweight contest; Derek Richmond will face Jermin King in a four-round junior middleweight bout; and debutant Laured Stewart will tackle Anson Greene in a four-round welterweight match-up.
The main encounter is expected to be a thrilling one, as both boxers are harbouring thoughts of being crowned the new champion in the junior lightweight division.

Lake has not been enjoying the best of times recently, losing his last three encounters. He lost to Miguel Antoine in February, 2012, for the WBC CABOFE light welterweight belt, and subsequently suffered defeat at the hands of Guyanese Clive “The Punisher” Atwell in a non-title fight in July last, before relinquishing the national lightweight to the same opponent in a third round knockdown in December 2012.
His record now stands at six wins (one KO), eight losses and two draws from 16 fights.
Gonsalves, on the other hand, has not entered the ring since December 2009, and may start as a heavy underdog for next month’s contest. In eight fights, Gonzales has managed six victories, including two knockouts, one defeat and one draw.