Cox, Jones fight off – Amateur line-up finalised for ProAm card

By: Avenash Ramzan

A lack of sponsorship from the Barbados end has forced the cancellation of the Shawn Cox/Kwesi Jones fight on Friday’s ProAm boxing card, slated for the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
A senior official of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control, speaking to this publication late on Monday afternoon, confirmed that the fight has been shelved due to Cox and his team in Barbados being unable to secure sponsorship to make the fight a reality.
The official said that Cox and his team had agreed to stand all expenses for the bout, including the purse, airfare, hotel accommodation and meals.
“The fight is off,” the official said. “It’s beyond our control because Cox and his team had promised to secure funding for the fight, but they have not been able to do so.”
The fight was not originally on the card, but was accommodated at the expense of a showdown between Anson Greene and debutant, Eric Richmond. With the Cox/Jones contest no longer a reality, at least for this month, the Greene/ Richmond fight has been reinstated.
The fight was expected to be the main supporting bout to the Mark Austin/ Gladwin Dorway feature contest, which is for the vacant national junior middleweight title of Guyana at 154 pounds. Dorway, who hails from Berbice and trains at the Pocket Rocket gym in New Amsterdam, has racked up an impressive record, winning all four of his fights within the distance. The strongly built boxer has never fought past three rounds, notching up wins against David Thomas, Anson Green, Cassius Matthews and Shawn Pile.
Austin, on the other hand, is far more experienced, with a record of eight wins, five losses and a draw from 14 fights. Dorway is one of four boxers from the Pocket Rocket gym set to participate in the event. Interestingly, trainer at the gym, the experienced Orlon ‘Pocket Rocket’ Rogers, will throw down the gauntlet on his student and rising star, Richard Williamson.
Rogers said he is looking forward to the six-round super bantamweight fight, and while he refrained from making a prediction, he is confident of giving young Richardson a good workout in the proverbial square jungle. Both boxers are at opposite ends of their careers: the veteran Rogers has a mere five wins from 20 fights, including 14 losses and a ‘No Contest’, while young Williamson, who recently turned a professional, has two victories and a defeat from three outings.
In the other professional bout, Delon Allicock, who lost to Williamson in his lone fight, will take on Charlton Skeete in a four-round bantamweight contest.
The ProAm card is a collaborative effort of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control, the Guyana Boxing Association, the National Communications Network, and the Sport Ministry, aimed at showcasing the abundance of amateur talent and enhancing the profiles of the professionals.