GEORGETOWN – Shawn-Terry Cox defied issues outside of the ring to retain the WBC-CABOFE heavyweight title with a first-round knockout of Guyana’s cruiserweight and heavyweight champion Kurt Bess on Saturday.
The ace Barbadian puncher, also known as “The Sniper”, was almost stripped of the title last week, when it appeared he would miss this fight at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall due to a lack of sponsorship.
Cox, aged 36, made it to the Guyana capital on Friday however, and this spelled bad news for the much taller Bess.
The visiting pugilist cut Bess down to size and left him wobbling when he landed a straight right hand.
A series of brutal lefts followed up and this put Bess on the canvas twice in the space of 15 seconds within the first minutes of the round.
Cox continued the punishment and Bess hit the canvas for the third and final time at 2:10 minutes of the first round.
The Barbadian, whose ring record is now 15-1, said he was surprised the referee did not stop the contest after the second knockdown, since it appeared to him that Bess (5-5) did not wish to continue.
Also on the card, Miguel “Hands of Stone” Antoine, another Barbadian boxer, showed that his victory over Guyana’s Mark Austin last February was no fluke.
Antoine, whose record is now 16-0-1, scored a unanimous decision, following a bout in which he landed several solid rights to Austin’s body and used his left jab to great effect.
Every time that Antoine seemed to come under attack in the eight-round welterweight contest, he would deliver a series of blows to Austin (6-3-1), forcing the Guyanese to clinch as a means of reprieve. (CMC)