Champions were crowned, knockouts were delivered and tickets sold out at the ‘Clash in Cayman’ – a success that has left the organisers wanting more.
Barry Bodden, one of the organisers of the event, said while he had hoped for a successful evening, the fights and the crowd exceeded his expectations.
The Lions Centre was packed with fans witnessing the highest level of boxing hosted in Cayman in nearly seven years. Two fighters achieved championship belts for the first time in their professional careers and every Cayman amateur fighter on the card won.
“First of all, I want to say, the atmosphere and the crowd just made this place electric,” Bodden told the Compass. “We were a little concerned with ticket sales leading up to the night, but it was a fantastic evening – the weather was good, the boxers were matched up great… and, most importantly, everyone, I think, had a good evening.”
It was the first time since March 2021 that a fight night was held on island, and the first time since 2017 that professional bouts took centre stage, when boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao attended the Island Rumble.
However, Bodden doesn’t plan to have any more hiatuses between fight nights and, he, along with several sponsors, is eager to bring the action back to Cayman shores, especially if it elevates local talent.
“The driving force behind this for me is to make sure we include our local amateur boxers, and there is a significant element to that which is built into these shows because, to me, that’s what it’s all about,” Bodden added. “That’s the future of our youth, that’s the future of boxing in Cayman, and we have to include them.”
Fully endorsing Bodden in elevating Cayman both through events and athlete-development is the legendary boxing champion Roy Jones Jr, who attended ‘Clash in Cayman’ as a special guest.
Jones told the Compass that he had previously worked with Cayman’s most successful fighter, Charles ‘The Killa’ Whittaker, and he is hoping to assist other Caymanians in the sport in the foreseeable future, noting that Fightzone TV promoter, Dennis Hobson, is also on board with hosting more events on island.
“Dennis already told me he wants to do it right now,” said Jones, who is in ongoing negotiations to fight Tommy Fury in an exhibition match next year. “So, there are a lot of people that really want to see big things happen on the island for boxing and having the IQ and knowledge that I have, I can be a very instrumental part of making it happen.”
Organisers for ‘Clash in Cayman’, which was put on by GBH Promotions in association with Fightzone TV, Fight Academy and main sponsor Elite Marble and Granite Ltd., did not mention a date nor location for another mega-boxing event, but Bodden confirmed that he and others are hoping for next year.
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