Birthday boxing ends in draw

TT amateur fighters ended with a flurry against Guyana to level the series 2-2 as West Indies legend Brian Lara ended his week of birthday celebrations with Boxing at the Castle at his residence, Brian Lara Drive, Port of Spain, on Thursday night.

The Guyanese, with a little help from the rain, tried to put a damper on proceedings by taking a 2-0 lead in the contest. But Tyron Thomas and Anthony Joseph responded well to win the next two bouts.

Prior to the boxing event, Lara organised a number of sporting activities during the week to celebrate his 50th birthday.

The sporting icon played small goal football with former Strike Squad players and national cricketers at his home, played a T20 match at the new Diego Martin Sporting Complex and golfed at St Andrew's Golf Course with his friends.

Yesterday, Lara left Trinidad for England to continue his birthday celebrations with one of his best friends Dwight Yorke, the former national and Manchester United footballer.

On Thursday evening, rain stopped the boxing action for an hour, prompting patrons to use the time to have dinner. Nine bouts were held, including an exhibition fight between national boxers Aaron Prince and Michael Alexander. The boxers are preparing for the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru, from July 26 to August 11.

The boxers later thanked Lara for sharing his special day with them.

Alexander said, "It has been a great pleasure and honour for him to invite us (not only) for the boxing card, but for his birthday celebrations as well. So we would like to thank Mr Brian Lara very much and we would love for him to do it again for TT amateur boxers."

Prince also thanked the batting legend for his generosity. "It is a privilege for everybody that is here right now because there are not a lot of people that could rub shoulders with Lara, shake his hand or even have a photo with him. It is a privilege to be here to help him celebrate and I will do it again if I have to."

The night featured four international bouts between Guyana and TT, with the former jumping to a 2-0 lead after victories by Kelvin Moore and Shermax Breaton. Moore defeated upcoming TT boxer Nyrell Hosien in a 56kg fight. Both boxers were aggressive in the opening round, but Moore took control of the fight in the second round. Hosien was keen to use evasive tactics in the final round but his strategy failed with a punch that floored him. Hosien survived the standing eight-count but lost via judges' decision.

Breaton continued the trend of aggression showed by the Guyanese in the second fight to win on points over Blessing Waldropt in a 64kg bout.

The crowd was fairly quiet during the night, but the 60kg contest between Anthony Joseph (TT) and Jamal Eastman (Guyana) brought entertainment. Eastman utilised his longer reach in round one, forcing Joseph to change his approach by getting closer to Eastman to cut his advantage.

The match ended with a flurry of punches from both boxers and the crowd was now glued to the action and they roared in approval when Joseph was given the victory on points.

Tyron Thomas of TT ensured the Guyanese fighters did not go home with bragging rights as he defeated Christopher Moore on points in a 69kg match.

The event featured a number of local bouts with Tianna Guy defeating Faith Ramnath in a 50kg match – the only women's fight. Ricardo Gittens outlasted Kyle Mitchell in a 70kg match, Abdul Taylor got past Otiga Jokhu in a 47kg bout and Tevoy Bharett was judged the winner over Joshua Forbes in a 69kg battle.