GBBC & Giftland Mall’s ‘Locked & Loaded’ Boxing …Guyana’s Marques beat Zarraga of Venezuela

Apr 25, 2017 Sports

By Sean Devers
Under a clear night sky at the Giftland Mall the main bout of the Guyana Boxing Board

Watched by Referee Torrington Dexter Marques scores with a crunching right to the body of Zarraga who fought bravely all night before losing a majority verdict to the Guyanese (Photos by Sean Devers)

of Control’s ‘Locked and Loaded’ Boxing card on Sunday night between flyweights Guyanese Dexter Marques and Luis Alberto Zarraga of Venezuela lived to all the hype and had the large and noisy crowd on its feet from the first bell.
The 10-round contest, which ended in a unanimous verdict for Marques, was the highlight of the Event, which included four of the originally seven scheduled Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) Amateur fights, two WCB Amateur fights and three Professional bouts including the main event.
After the National Anthem of both countries were played Marques, in his 18th Professional fight, went after his man from the first bell, but despite being cut on his forehead due an accidental clashing of heads in the opening stanza, Zarraga managed to negate the attacking style employed by the taller Guyanese.
Zarraga began throwing punches of his own in the second round before Marques altered his approach; throwing more left jabs into the face of the Venezuelan fighter.
Marques connected with some good combinations which were set up by his jabs from long range, but though seemingly hurt on a few occasions Zarraga did not relent and traded punches with his opponent who moved around the

Guyanese Lawrence Hearwood was pounded into submission by T&Ts Keron Bourne in their MMA Bantamweight clash at Giftland Mall.

Venezuelan and fought from the outside.
Marques quickly realized that Zarraga had no ‘glass jaw’ and was taking his best punches and still fighting, using the holding tactics as the battle progressed. Marques, not known as power puncher, scored with some stinging jabs and began to outbox his man.
By the middle of the contest it seemed that both Boxers had resorted to going the full distance with Zarraga, whose face was beginning to swell, showing plenty of guts and a knock-out seemed unlikely.
While Marques threw more punches, Zarraga, who taunted him by spreading his arms wide as he danced around the ring, was never really out of the fight and as action picked up the crowd urged the Guyanese on. Marques floored his opponent with a powerful combination in the seventh round the fans were on their feet. In the end it was a decision that was expected although some thought it would have been an easier night at the office for Marques.
But Zarraga got up and showed plenty of fight but as he began to tire the Guyanese champion remained in control as the DJ blasted Dave Martin’s ‘Not a blade of grass’ and the entire Giftland Mall sang along.
With Zarraga running out of gas, a brutal right upper-cut to the mid-section lifted him off his

Imran Khan (right) misses with a left upper cut as Keeve Allicock covers up at the Giftland Mall on Sunday night.

feet and he employed the tactic of hugging his man, but still managed to get in some good shots as the two pugilists traded blows on the ropes.
The night began with Akeela Malazon beating Rewinne David in a 120 lb encounter and Euel Augustin getting the better of Kelon Isaacs in the 140 lb weight class in the two WBC amateur bouts.
The well supported event saw the reluctance of all but one of the Guyanese MMA fighters to enter the ring with their foreign opponents in a style many here were seeing live for the first time.
The first MMA Amateur three-round contest saw Erland Maloney beating fellow Trinidadian Lashawn David when the Ref stopped the fight in the second round due to the Triangle submission before Gershom Griffith defeated Ahmad Khan.
In the two Professional bouts preceding the main event Imran Khan was too good for Keeve Allicock to win by majority decision and Edmond Declou gained a unanimous verdict over Winston Pompey.
In the Professional MMA fights T&T’s Martin Joseph beat Bajan Emerson Hurley when

The ring girls and the large crowd at Giftland Mall for Sunday’s boxing.

their fight was stopped due to a ‘Heel Hook’ submission and lone Guyanese MMA fighter Lawrence Hearwood suffered a TKO against T&Ts Kerwin Bourne.
A late start to proceedings which resulted in the card not being completed until after 01:00hrs on Monday morning did not help nor did some amount of confusion in the announcing of too many destinations by American Ring Announcer Robert Alexander to the excited young man who was a lucky ticket holder and won one of two door prizes offered by Fly Jamaica. Alexander should not feel too bad about the mistake since his countryman Steve Harvey crowned the wrong winner in the last Miss Universe Pageant.
These minor hiccups failed to distract from the action inside the ring and it was quite humorous to most present when Bajan MMA fighter Emerson Hurly said “Unna have a great Island here I love Guyana” which evoked plenty of laughter.
Among the prominent people in the crowd was Lennox Blackmore, who fought for the World Boxing Association (WBA) World light welterweight title against Aaron Pryor and the World Boxing Council (WBC) FECARBOX light welterweight title against Antonio Cervantes. MMA TV personality Max Messiah, Mayor of Georgetown Patricia Green in her capacity as ringside Nurse and Director of Sports Christopher Jones were also a part of the crowd.
The successful event was sponsored by Hand-in-Hand Insurance Company, Guyana Beverage Inc, Banks DIH Ltd, Ansa McAl, New India, Fly Jamaica and the Guyana Tourism Authority.