By Marlon Munroe
You might have heard the phrase “Boxing after Dark.”
The upcoming June 5 ‘Deadly Encounters’ fight card at the Princess Hotel has given rise to another phrase “Boxing at its’ best.”
So said promoter of the card Seon Bristol who on Thursday predicted that “sparks will fly,” on the historic night.
Hours after his arrival from New York, Bristol, owner of BrisO Promotions at a press conference at the Princes Hotel, told reporters that all systems were in place for a night of world-class boxing.
Bristol suggested that the staging of the card by the Princess Hotel was a blessing in disguise.
He added that now Guyana was halfway on its way to being on par with the international trend of staging boxing matches at top-class hotels.
The card, with the exception of the WIBA bantamweight world title rematch between Shondell ‘Mystery Lady’ and Corinne ‘Sexy Panther’ De Groot, was originally scheduled for the Foxwoods Casino Resort in the USA but visa problems prevented some of the fights from being held there.
Gwendolyn ‘Stealth Bomber’ O’Neil and Veronica Blackman will fight for the vacant WIBA heavyweight title while Elton ‘The Real Coolie Bully’ Dharry will take on Orlon ‘Pocket Rocket’ Rogers.
On fight night, Guyanese power-puncher ‘Deadly’ Denny Dalton, will headline the card against Puerto Rico’s Hector ‘Machito’ Camacho Jr., who boasts a reputation of 51 fights with only three losses.
Camacho, son of the legendary boxer by the same name, has so far scored 28 knockouts.
The two boxers will be fighting for the vacant World Boxing Foundation Intercontinental middleweight title.
Dalton also has a high percentage of knockouts although he has only 25 fights to his credit.
Some 11 of his 16 wins have come by that route.
Meanwhile, Bristol promised that there is an exclusive plan to maintain the standard of the hotel.
He emphasised that the plan is to set a precedence so as to ensure the hotel and other hotels alike will continue to host boxing matches.
“Today we are proud to say that this is the largest boxing event that will be staged in Guyana and hopefully we are looking forward to the future to say the next one will be even bigger than this. The objective is to set a standard because we have for too long world class fighters among us and world class trainers and it is just fair that Guyana should stage, if not their own fighters, but stage boxing at its best.
Currently the venue is set to accommodate 3000 persons and ticket prices have been set at $10,000 for the VIP area, $5000 for ringside and $3,000 for poolside ringside.
According to Bristol, engineers have already mapped out the area where the ring will be placed as well as the seating accommodation.
Tickets are presently on sale at the Princess Hotel front desk, John Lewis Styles, Nigel’s Supermarket, White Castle Fish Shop, Guinness Bar on D’Urban Street, and the Sweet Point Snackette on Orange Walk.
Bristol said there were no logistical nightmares as related to the area of planning and therefore now all that is left if for the fighters to come out and put on a good show.
The fight will be held in the large area contiguous to the swimming pool, which according to Bristol will add to the classy ambience of the venue.
The fight will be shown live on the internet and there are systems in place for a pay-per-view audience.
Bristol said plans got better when GT&T announced that it will be increasing its bandwidth. He said that there were verbal commitments with the telecommunications giants and he will be looking to tie up those arrangements over the next couple of days before the fight.
He said that a PayPal account will be set up and persons outside of Guyana will be able to view the fight at a reasonable cost.
Bristol also indicated that contracts have already been issued and all fighters coming from overseas will be in Guyana on June 2.
