Shondell Alfred says she was unaware of pregnancy

By Avenash Ramzan

WIBA bantamweight champion, Shondell ‘Mystery Lady’ Alfred, who found out last Friday that she was three weeks pregnant a day before her world title fight with Mexican Zulina Munoz, said it was an opportunity missed and a “slap in my face.”
The 31-year-old Alfred made the revelation during a press conference on Tuesday at the Guyana Boxing Board of Control office on Avenue of the Republic after returning from Mexico on Monday afternoon.
According to the pugilist, who was scheduled to fight the 25-year-old Munoz for the vacant World Boxing Council super flyweight title last Saturday, she was totally unaware that she was pregnant.
While it would have been appropriate for Alfred to have the test done in Guyana before leaving for Mexico, the authorities there would not have honoured it, since it is customary that visiting boxers go through a medical examination in the country where the fight is hosted.
Alfred said, “I didn’t know that [was pregnant]. I hadn’t any sign, nothing. When I did the test in Mexico, the guy called me the next morning and said the test proved positive. I said “what!” It was a shock to me. I guess if my heart wasn’t good I would have fell down right there.”
The boxer, who trains out of the Forgotten Youth Foundation gym in Albouystown, underwent a rigorous training regime in the lead-up to the bout.
Apart from heated sparring sessions with the likes of former national boxer, Joseph Murray, and active boxers, Simeon ‘Candyman’ Hardy and Dexter ‘The Kid’ Marques, Alfred’s camp had recruited the services of Strengthening and Conditioning Trainer, Andrew Hooper, to help her deal with the high altitude conditions in Mexico.
An emotional Alfred added, “This is life; things like this happen…things happen that you never expect to happen. I didn’t want this to happen this way, and I know seeing that girl fight on Saturday night, I just standstill and broke down into tears because I know I train very hard for this fight and there is no way that this girl could beat me.”
In Alfred’s absence, Munoz was pitted against Maribel Ramirez and she lifted the WBC super flyweight title with a unanimous decision win. Though Munoz won the fight, Alfred was not impressed, making it even tougher for her to digest the sudden turn of events.
“She [Munoz] was there in front of you like a mirror just waiting for punches…I really and truly sorry about this. If I knew this before I leave Guyana I wouldn’t have put myself through all this embarrassment. This is a big embarrassment and slap in my face. I’m not mad that I’m pregnant, but the whole entire thing is that I wasted a big opportunity there.”
She added, “I’m very much disappointed because I know a lot of you guys were looking forward to me coming home with this title. I’m very, very disappointed.”
Quizzed on her next move, Alfred said “I haven’t come to a decision as yet, but I hope I come to that very fast.”
GBBC Disappointed
Meanwhile, president of the Guyana Boxing of Control, Peter Abdool, said that while the board is disappointed by the development, local authorities had no control over what transpired.
“Once an agreement was entered into with Shondell, whether verbal or written, what happens immediately is that agreement becomes a contract between the fighter and the promoter. At that stage, unless the fight is being held in Guyana, we have no jurisdiction. A fighter who is coming in from Trinidad for example to fight here, even though she may walk with a medical, one is still administered here because we need to make sure that she is perfectly viable. The contract between boxer and promoter means that the boxer has an undertaken to make sure he/she is prepared for the fight,” Abdool explained.
He added, “From our standpoint, the only thing they asked us to do is to make sure Shondell is weighted prior to the fight. They didn’t ask for a pregnancy test, and they certainly can’t force her to do it because we have no jurisdiction.”