I deserved victory says Ramnarine

NEWLY crowned Iberian-American mini-flyweight champion Ria Ramnarine has dismissed criticism that her victory on Saturday night was a “hometown decision.” “People are entitled to their opinions and you will always get negative remarks. But I want to state clearly that I fought hard for the win,” the 25-year-old Carapichaima, Central Trinidad resident said. Ramnarine unanimously outpointed Japanese-born American Diedre Hamaguchi in an exciting eight-round contest at the Central Regional Indoor Arena for the championship sanctioned by the Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA) which is based in Colombia. Fighting out of the Fine Line Gym in Montrose, Chaguanas, Ramnarine, weighing 105 pounds gave a courageous and impressive fistic performance to outbox the equally determined New Yorker.

Judges for the contest, George St Aude scored it 79-75, McKenzie Granger saw it 79-75 and Glenroy Noel had it 78-74, all for Ramnarine. “I think the judges got it right. I had no influence over them and they scored it the best way they knew how,” said Ramnarine who is currently resting at home. She said she thought she built up her points with clean effective punching and an impenetrable defence which frustrated the fight plan of the more experienced American boxer. “Anyone who knows me will tell you that I do not ask favours in the ring. It was a tough fight and in the end they gave me the edge and I accept it,” said Ramnarine. “I really worked hard for my victory. It was not just somebody I beat up on,” she said. She confessed that she did not fight her normal style but sought to match Hamaguchi’s brawling, street-fighting demeanour and claimed victory in the head to head confrontation.

Trained by Darren Vidale and Bahrath Ramoutar, Ramnarine prefers to jab and keep on her toes presenting a moving target for her opponent. However on Saturday night she counter-punched toe to toe with the stodgy Hamaguchi, who is trained by former Guyana world-rated lightweight Lennox Blackmoore. “Admittedly I did not fight normally, I like to hit and move. I can’t say why I did but I tried to adjust to her style and it worked out in the end,” said Ramnarine. She admittted to being hurt in the fourth round by a stinging left and right combination from Hamaguchi but was able to stay on her feet and recover to come back and win the fight. “I am trained to take hard punches because I train with guys and get hit pretty hard. I have conditioned myself to overcome the really tough shots,” said Ramnarine. She says she would like to get back into the ring within the next two months and fight at least twice before the end of the year.

“I want to make my way up the WIBA rankings and will look to get a shot at the Commonwealth crown sometime soon,” she said. Ramnarine is currently ranked No 9 by the WIBA with Hamaguchi at No 7 and the positions are widely expected to be reversed when the latest rankings are released. On Saturday night, the Ma Pau Members Club-sponsored fighter received thunderous support from her fans and the judges’ decision was greeted with wild celebrations. Among the crowd was Giselle Salandy who last year successfully defended her Iberian-Latin American welterweight championship against Paolo Rojas of Colombia at the same venue. She was emphatic that Ramnarine had beaten her opponent.