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Amateur Boxers Put on a Show for Packed House

The V.I.'s Jefferey Velasquez, in red, squares off against Puerto Rico's  Emmanuel Carmona. The territory’s most avid boxing fans packed the Gladys Abraham Elementary School auditorium Saturday night, eager to see what the USVI Boxing Federation’s up and coming crop of amateurs could do.

They did not seem to be disappointed. For every match, the hometown fans jumped and screamed for the fighters in the red corner. And in return, the boxers won almost every match against their opponents from Puerto Rico.

The first fight was between the V.I.’s Jordan Swan and Anthony Ramon from Puerto Rico. From the bell, both fighters came out swinging, going hit for hit and combo for combo. At times, Swan found himself against the ropes, but managed to box himself out of whatever trouble he was in. At the end of the first round, it seemed that Ramon had the upper hand, but some wise words from trainer Julian Jackson Sr. seemed to help Swan in the second round.

Swan took the upper hand when he came back into ring, this time dictating the pace. As his opponent tried to hold him, Swan responded with shots to the abdomen and continued to dominate. And after three rounds, he won by decision 14-6, making Saturday’s bout the first victory of his career.

In the second fight, V.I.’s Khamarley Mombelly went up against Jaime Gonzales from Puerto Rico. Mombelly came out in the first round, taking control with his jab. He controlled the pace, trying to corner his opponent at every opportunity and when Gonzales held, Mombelly — much like Swan — came in with shots to the abdomen.

But unlike Swan, Mombelly seemed a bit more raw when it came to technique. At one point Mombelly got a warning from the ref for throwing his opponent to the mat. Mombelly really picked up his intensity during the second and third rounds, starting to land some solid hits that sent his opponent into the corners. Mombelly won the match, 12-5.

In an exciting third fight, the V.I’s Jefferey Velasquez faced off against the much taller Emmanuel Carmona. His opponent’s height advantage didn’t seem to faze Velasquez as he came out throwing blows — two rights to the head and a blow to the gut sent Carmona stumbling backwards. Velasquez then followed the first combo with a second of three hits to the gut, and clean shot to the face, sending his opponent running back to Puerto Rico.

Velasquez kept up the onslaught for the second and third rounds, but only ended up winning by 4 points, 14-10.

Rounding out the night:

• Making her boxing debut, the V.I.’s Tiffany Reddick beat Lleana Lopez, 13-11, in what was voted the best match of the night.

• The V.I.’s Carlos David-Arce beat Raymond Perez, 8-6.

• Puerto’s Rico’s Johnathon Arroyo gave up after the second round in the sixth fight of the night, handing the win to the V.I’s Wilfred Todman.

• The V.I’s Henry Lawrence was dealt a narrow loss, 9-7, by Puerto Rico’s Jorge Karl Sosa.

• The V.I’s super heavy-weight Clayton Laurent also forced his opponent, Lisandro Sanchez, to retire after two rounds.

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