Late ambulance delays opening of National Boxing Champs

NICKOLAI MADRAY

The 2017 National Boxing Championships took a solid blow after a delayed start due to the late arrival of an ambulance at the Cosmos Boxing Gym in Marabella on Friday night.

The Championships was scheduled to begin at 7 pm, however, the first bout got underway at 9.30 pm.

Despite the delayed start, a shortened card and the departure of a few spectators, the weekend-long tournament lived up to the excitement with three bouts of boxing.

In the most exciting match-up of the night, YTC’s Romel Lezama faced Aaron Hassette of the Defence Force in the welterweight (69 kilogrammes) bout. Hassette won the three-round fight on a split decision.

The other two contests were stopped by the referee as the contenders seemed to be outmatched.

It was probably one of the few occasions where a civilian dealt solid blows to an army man without facing charges as Jessie Beckles, representing Cosmos, defeated his Defence Force rival, David Francique, in the first round of their light welterweight (64kg) tussle.

The first match of the night saw another Defence Force member Christopher de Freitas getting the better of his co-worker, Levi Francis, in the third round of their lightweight (60kg) bout.

The National Boxing Championships continued last evening and concludes later today at the Cosmos Boxing Gym in Marabella.