Manswell fights for Tobago

Damage done by Hurricane Ivan has forced a venue change and postponement of tomorrow’s scheduled professional boxing card, featuring local heavyweight Kertson Manswell and a trio of Guyanese pugilists. The card, being staged by Sure Fire Promotions, is now being shifted from Tobago tomorrow to September 24 or 25, most likely to the Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo. “Some areas (in Tobago) had quite a bit of damage, so this is the reason we’ve had to postpone the event and change the venue,” promoter Tansley Thompson told CMC Sport yesterday. The promoters have decided to give profits from the event to the Tobago Relief Fund and they hope to heighten interest in the card by including Calypsonians. “All proceeds from this event will go to the Tobago Relief Fund, we are hoping to have a couple Calypsonians on the card —  to boost the card,” Thompson said.

Manswell, who won silver medals at the last Pan American, Commonwealth, and Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games, will be having his second outing as a professional when he faces Guyana’s Kurt Best in the main event of the evening. Manswell turned pro this summer after a narrow failure to qualify for the Athens Olympics and won his debut bout in a first-round knockout of fellow Trinidadian David McMillan on July 29 in Arima. Former Caribbean amateur middleweight champion and Pan Am Games bronze medallist Kirt Sinette, who also made a winning pro debut on the July 29 card in Arima, will tackle Guyana’s James Walcott, and the third Guyanese on the card, Lennox Allen, will come up against veteran Waldron Brooks in a welterweight bout. The card is expected to have three other bouts with local boxers. (CMC)