When Cayman’s seven amateur boxers went to Kingston last week to take on fighters from Jamaica’s mecca for aspiring champs, the Bruising Gym, it was a daunting task.
Judging and matching usually favours the home fighters but in this case there were no mismatches and the judging was spot on.
The pro-am bill was at Barbican Beach with seven amateur bouts and a pro fight at the end. Cayman won 4-3 but the score would have been the other way had Jamaica’s Richard Walker not been disqualified for punching after the contest finished against Gino ‘Crusher’ Brown. The other Cayman winners were Tafari Ebanks, Dariel Ebanks and Diego Rodriguez. The gallant Cayman silver medallists were Jessica McFarlane-Richards, Reymon Rodriguez – who is Diego’s brother – and Thomas McField-Brown.
The coaches, who did a fine job, were Norman Wilson and Donie Anglin. Jan Golaszewski marshalled everybody superbly as the manager.
The pro bout barely lasted more than a round but there was plenty of action in that time with Devon ‘Concrete’ Moncrieffe pummelling Lloyd ‘The Punisher’ Smith. The fact that Smith has lost all seven bouts – six by the short route – makes his ring name a mockery, after all, he’s the one taking all the punishment.
The Bruising Gym in Stony Hill was founded by Carl ‘Bruising’ Grant only four years ago and in that time Grant has become Jamaican amateur boxing’s national coach and seen his flourishing gym grow to over 100 members rapidly. Grant is a former pro middleweight contender.
Grant, 41, has already won the national coach of the year three times and looks destined to hold on to that title forever, especially if at least one of his charges gets to the London Olympics this summer.
Welterweight Michael Gardener is the strongest possibility as he has been selected to attend a high performance clinic in Cardiff, Wales, in two weeks’ time. Cayman’s Dariel Ebanks will be there too. Gardener boxed an exhibition with Dariel when Bruising Gym boxers were here in October.
Grant said: “The boxing against Cayman was good. I was a little bit disappointed about the way it ended when our super-heavyweight, because of his indiscipline, caused us to lose to Cayman 4-3. The show went well. This is something that is taking over Jamaica where on every amateur card we put a pro fight on too. We call it a pro-am card and I support it.
“I’m really pleased that we’ve made the link with the Cayman Islands. The show was out of this world and I want to create the relationship I have with Cayman throughout the Caribbean. My boxers feel the same way too.”
He is excited about going to the high performance clinic. “With my amateur career as a coach it can’t get any better going up to Wales with my number one amateur boxer, Michael Gardener. It is the best thing that could ever happen. I’m going there with an open mind to learn everything I can in that camp.”
Richard ‘Shrimpy’ Clarke, a former flyweight world title challenger, was in the Bruising Gym corner briefly. Clarke, 44, now works for Jamaica’s Institute of Sport, coaching not just boxing but many sports as well.
I interviewed Clarke on my first trip to Jamaica in 1987 and he’s kept that cutting in a scrapbook ever since. Clarke seems in good health, is personable and chatty, a great advert for boxing.
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