Christmas came early for Craig Derbyshire after stopping defending champion Matt Windle to win the Commonwealth light flyweight title in the main event at ‘Clash in Cayman’ – the biggest boxing bout held on the islands in recent times.
Prior to the bout, which took place at the Lions Centre in front of hundreds of fight fans, many boxing analysts put Derbyshire as an overwhelming underdog, giving him little to no chance against Windle, but the ‘Dynamite’ from Doncaster, England, had other ideas.
After a gritty performance through the first five rounds, where Derbyshire landed power shots that left Windle wobbling on several occasions, including at the end of the fifth, Windle’s corner – not wanting their fighter to take any more damage – brought a halt to the fight before round six started.
Once Derbyshire, realised it was over, the emotions spilled out, as he rejoiced on winning his first title.
“What a victory for Derbyshire,” sports presenter Paul Dempsey and the lead commentator of ‘Clash in Cayman’ said over the air on Fightzone TV following Windle’s retirement on the stool.
“It goes to show, no one ever knows what to expect in boxing,” Dempsey continued. “Derbyshire was right on top of his game from the get go and Matt Windle, I’m afraid, was missing something in there tonight – he never quite got going.”
Derbyshire, who now has a record of 9-29-4, was involved in one of two championship headliners on the card. His countrywoman, Katie Healy, also returned to England with a title, having defeated her Canadian foe.
“I’m overjoyed to be taking this title back to the UK,” Healy, 25, told the Compass after her 10-round match against Shelly Barnett on Friday night for the vacant Female Commonwealth Silver Super Bantamweight Championship.
“We had a plan, I knew I was coming here for the win, and I wasn’t going home with anything less,” she added.
Although she won, the Brit said she was slightly disappointed in her performance but remains determined to hold on to the belt.
“You always want to defend your title, no matter what title it is,” she said. “I have a really good team behind me and I trust the decisions that they make, and I’m happy to follow what they think is best.”
Cayman champions
While the three Cayman fighters on the card did not walk away with physical championship belts, they certainly walked away as the people’s champions of the night.
The trio all fought in their respective amateur bouts – each victorious in dominant fashion against the visiting fighters.
“This is an amazing result,” Alva Suckoo, President of the Cayman Islands Boxing Association told the Compass. “I’m not surprised. The opportunity that was presented here and for other boxers in attendance that witness this, will be inspired to step up.”
First up was Geno Brown. Despite entering the fight with a hamstring injury, Brown, who trains under Floyd Moxam at the D. Dalmain Ebanks Gymnasium, looked unstoppable en route to ruining the debut of Jamaica’s Hackeem Brady via a decision win.
It was Brown’s first match since his stoppage win against Chad Powell in 2021, improving his record to 2-0.
Next up for Cayman was rising star Alec ‘Fearless’ Lopez. He took on Jahmari ‘Wata Man’ Frazer in one of the most anticipated fights of the night.
Although Frazer showcased his willingness to stand and throw punches, Lopez’s skill was more than Wata Man could handle – ultimately leading to the Caymanian picking up a unanimous decision win to better his record to 4-2.
Lopez’s teammate Jaden Eccleston, out of the Performance Lab, closed the show for the Cayman fighters. Eccleston, proved to be too much over a pair of rounds for Bahamian Milano Knowles, who could not continue on to the third round, with the fight going down as a TKO victory for Eccleston.
Professional Undercard
Outside the three amateur bouts that kicked off the night and the two championship fights that ended the ‘Clash in Cayman’ event, four other boxing bouts were on showcase.
Englishman Harvey Dykes picked up his second pro win after defeating Canada’s Tyler Tremblett via decision.
Eric Moon and Mikhail Miller threw down for eight rounds in a back and forth fight and while many believed Moon did enough for the win, the judges saw it as a draw.
However, in the other eight-round fight, judges were not needed as Filipino Michael Dasmariñas, who had supporters by the boatload in attendance, stopped Panama’s Jorge Sanchez with a flurry of punches in the sixth round.
Jose Luis Sauceda dominated Edgardo Avila through four rounds to earn a unanimous decision win.
- Compass journalist Seaford Russell Jr was part of the commentary team for the ‘Clash in Cayman’.
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