Rikardo Smith .. will be in action tomorrow in Savanna-la-Mar

Another example of the powerful and positive effects of sport on a community was seen last Saturday night in Stony Hill, as hundreds of young people turned out to cheer on their local favourites, as the Burger King Amateur Boxing series got off to an enthusiastic start at the Bruisin Gym.

Local fans, led by Member of Parliament Andrew Gallimore and Councillor Tasha Schwapp, had a lot to cheer about as the home team more than held its own against boxers from two other gyms.

Technically, the best bout on the card was the welterweight contest between local favourite Sakima Mullings and Catoney Robinson from the Stanley Couch Gym. This was the final bout on the card and it brought the curtain down on the night's proceedings in dramatic fashion.

Technically sound boxer

Mullings, a Jamaican who has been living and attending school in the United States of America, is home for a few months and has been training in Stony Hill. He is a technically sound boxer with better than average punching power and he methodically wore down his game opponent. Robinson realised early that he was up against a superior boxer, so he took the fight to Mullings with some success in the first two rounds.

Mullings kept his composure, however, scoring points with the jab. As Robinson, who is not yet up to peak form this year, faded, he piled the pressure on. Robinson was given a protective eight-count in the fourth and final round, and although he fought back gamely, he was so clearly outclassed that the referee eventually stopped the contest.

The two most competitive bouts on the card were between featherweights Richard Carter and Teo Fagan from the G.C. Foster Gym and Sanjay Burnside and Richard Groves from Bruisin Gym respectively. The G.C. Foster duo came out of the duels successfully but the Bruisin team gave game performances.

Outpointed

In other fights, Bruisin's Anthony Clarke outpointed his gym colleague Christopher Haughton in a light welterweight contest. Michael Holmes from Bruisin stopped Dwayne Forbes from Heavy Metal Gym in the second round; Peter Roberts was no match for Fana Walker from Stanley Couch Gym in a featherweight contest; and in a clash of the super heavyweights, Bruisin's Jamar Nooks had too much fire power for the much lighter Oral Willis from Heavy Metal. The bout ended with a second-round stoppage by the referee.

The action turns to Savanna-la-Mar tomorrow when Hard Knocks Gym will host boxers from Kingston, Manchester, Anchovy and Stony Hill. This will mark the return of boxers from the Jamaica Defence Force to local competition and will see Mullings going up against welterweight champion Rikardo Smith in the night's feature bout. There will also be a professional fight between Tsetsi Davis and Lloyd Smith.