The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

VALENTINO Knowles and Keishno Major, two former top notch amateur boxers turned coaches and now organisers, were both quite impressed with what they saw from their newly formed Aftershock Boxing Club on Saturday night.

The club hosted their first show in the COVID-19 pandemic at the National Boxing Gymnasium in the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex where a large crowd showed up to watch the showdown between the Aftershock Boxing Club and the Southside Marlins Boxing Club.

Newly appointed Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg and his director of sports Timothy Munnings were on hand to view the show. Bowleg said he was impressed with what he saw, especially from the turnout by the parents and young people.

He said this only bodes well for the future of the sport, the first to hold a major local event with such a large audience since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 and halted sports up to now.

Although all of the fighters on the card were making their debut, Knowles said they couldn’t ask for a better lineup as they entertained the crowd in every match staged from the older to the younger competitors.

“I think it was a wonderful show. For our first timer, I think the guys really put on a hell of a show. I am pleased and happy with their performances,” said Knowles, who thanked Lawrence Hepburn and Andy ‘Smudge’ Ford from the National Sports Authority in helping to get the facilities ready.

“I think they did a good job. The young guys are all enthused and I think we will see a lot more coming from them in the future.”

Aftershock’s Tyrone Humes was named the most valuable fighter of the show after he forced Marlins’ John Saint to get a standing eight count from referee Gregory Storr in the first round of their three-minute bout. Humes stayed in control the rest of the fight.

“It was amazing. I’m so happy I won my first match. I can’t believe how hard I wanted this,” said the 19-year-old Humes. “I was more concerned before the fight because I was anxious to get in my first one.

“The crowd was nice and it was good to have my family in the front row to watch me perform. Since I won the first match, I’m going back into the gym to work on my hand movement and I will be better than I was in this one.”

In the second bout, Aftershock got another victory as southpaw Eric Williams was able to jab and counter-punch through the defence of Marlins’ Keyshawn Cox.

“It was so great. I didn’t come into the fight in the shape that I wanted to be, but I listened to my coaches and so I’m thankful for the victory,” Williams said. I just wanted to see what he had, test his power and then I went to work.”

Cox, 18, said despite the loss, he knew the mistakes he made, especially not concentrating as much as he should on what was going on in the ring and not so much concentrating on the instructions he was getting from his coaches on the sideline during the bout.

Simeon Forbes put the Marlins in the winners’ circle when he secured the win over Aftershock’s Christoff Thompson.

“It was great. He couldn’t stop my movement. He had to get wild, so I had to stop that,” said the 17-year-old Forbes. “I dominated all of the rounds. From the beginning, I knew it was over. Only time will tell what will happen after this.”

Chrisoff Robinson, 21, got Aftershock back on track when he managed to out-slug Maddox Byrd. “I was a little nervous going in, but once I got in and the fight started, I did what I had to do. I did what the coach told me,” he said. “I didn’t know what to expect. My coach taught me never to go into the ring underestimating my opponent.”

At just 17, Byrd said he was pleased with his performance, considering that he only had one month to prepare for the show. “It was a really good fight. I enjoyed it because it was my first fight I ever had,” said the 17-year-old home schooled student.

“I would fight him again if I get a chance. Everyone here has more experience than me, but if I can improve on my movement and not be an easy target to hit, I know I can be right up there.”

In what turned out to be one of the fights of the night, Aftershock’s Mario Pratt got the better of Marlins’ Brandon Johnson as they slugged it out from start to finish. They had the crowd cheering for every punch they threw.

“It was awesome. I had him. I had him from the second round,” said the 13-year-old eighth grader at SC McPherson Junior High School. “It was a great fight. I’m glad I won.”

Higgs, back for his second fight, faced his Marlins’ team-mate in Lavardo Collie, who was warned by referee Alvin Sargent not to use the “Ali” shuffle in his feet movement. Once he settled down, Collie took the fight to Higgs and they slugged it out. Collie, however, landed a few more combos to clinch the win.

“I figured out my opponent and I tried to keep my distance and work on getting him worn out,” said Collie, a 12th grader at Doris Johnson Secondary High. “This was my first fight, so I just wanted to make sure that I did what I had to do.”

At the end of the night, the other individual awards went to Milton Newbold as the most improved boxer after he won over Jarvis Masiah, while the fight of the night was between Ondray Byrd and Pharrel Knowles. Byrd was the winner.

There were a few bouts that featured some of the younger boxers. However, the results of those matches were not available.

Kayla Johnson, the head coach of the Marlins, said although they have about 20 boxers in their stable at her parents home where they train in Pinewood Gardens, she only had seven in action on the show. Another one got a walkover after his opponent didn’t step into the ring. “I’m definitely happy with their performances. These guys were only able to train for one or up to three months,” said Johnson, the first Bahamian female amateur boxer and coach. “So it shows me where they are.

“I’m really happy and excited about where they are going in the future. I was happy about their performances. We just want to get them more exposure and experience like this, so we will continue to partner with Keishno and Valentino in their Aftershock Club and any other club in the Bahamas to get them the experience. We really do need it.”

Among those on hand to view the show was former bantamweight and lightweight champion Ray Minus Jr, who coached both Knowles and Major, as well as professional fighter Tureano ‘Reno‘ Johnson, the master of ceremonies.

The show was sponsored by Y-Cares Fashion and Howard Nelson “Chippie” Chipman.’

While Sargent and Storr served as referees, former amateur and professional fighter Jermaine ‘Choo Choo’ Mackey, who won numerous titles, was the judge for the bouts.