Manswell faces big boxing test

TRINIDAD and Tobago’s heavyweight boxer Kertson Manswell will get one of his biggest tests tonight as he prepares for the upcoming Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Manswell comes up against Venezuelan Wilmer Vasquez, reigning national champion of the South American country over four rounds. The bout which promises to be one of the most challenging faced by the Tobago born is on a card promoted by Tansley Thompson and Gordon Hoyte at the Woobrook Youth Facility in Port-of-Spain starting at 8 pm. Manswell, silver medallist at the Commonwealth Games and the Central American and Caribbean Games two years ago, is regarded as one of Trinidad and Tobago’s main medal hopes in Athens.

He also distinguished himself and enhanced his reputation as the leading heavyweight in the English-speaking Caribbean when he grabbed a silver at the Pan American Games in the Dominican Republic last year. However he is expected to be severely tested tonight when he matches fists with Vasquez who has a formidable record of 36 knockouts in his 38 fights to date. The 22-year-old has suffered only two defeats and judging by his impressive record will be looking to put down the Trinidad and Tobago champion well before the fourth round. “I feel confident about my ability. Anything can happen in a boxing match but I am sure of my powerful left hand which has put down the majority of my opponents,” Vasquez said. Vasquez and middleweight Cruz Gil arrived in Trinidad yesterday and visited the Newsday office to promote their fights. Gil, a 20-year-old meets Kirt Sinnette in another promising four-rounder.

Both boxers talked about their fights through Newsday Editor Suzanne Mills, who speaks the Spanish language fluently and graciously consented to act as an interpreter, communicating with the boxers like a native of Caracas. The boxers are presently attending an elite boxing academy in Venezuela on scholarship with the Hugo Chavez Government providing lodging, meals, tuition and everyday expenses. They both are scheduled to bid for a place in the boxing competition at the Athens Olympics in a qualifying tournament in Tijuana, Mexico and hope to become instructors in the sport later on.

Gil said that he is not regarded as a heavy puncher but boxes with both fists. He said he will go in for a knockout if he feels that he can. “I am not rapid as Vasquez but I can hit hard also,” he said yesterday. Gil has 62 knockouts in his 74 bouts to date with 12 defeats. Following tonight’s bouts, both Manswell and Sinnette will leave for Cuba to fine-tune their preparations for the Olympics. Sinnette is making a comeback to the sport after an absence of three years when he achieved success at the Pan American Games level. Apart from boxing action, there will also be a cultural feast for patrons who can expect to hear calypso/soca numbers from Poser and El King. Added attraction will be the ring girls from the Trini Revellers Carnival presentation, Arabian Nights.