Khygan Morley may have delivered his most impressive knockout punch yet.
The St Lucian middleweight boxer’s knockout of Leonard Harewood was one of the highlights of the Amateur Boxing Association of Barbados Lionel Hall Memorial Tournament that took place at the Netball Stadium on Saturday night.
Within the first minute of their fight, Harewood, representing the Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme (BDFSP), lay sprawled on the canvas after Morley landed a series of punches to his head.
The last of them, a powerful right hook, left Harewood floored for several minutes and foaming from the mouth, with the doctor rushing into the ring to provide assistance.
When he finally rose, with the help of the referee, he received a hearty applause from the appreciative crowd that had been shocked into silence just minutes before.
In one of the most competitive bouts of the night, the BDFSP’s Ricardo Blackman defeated Trinidad and Tobago’s Levi Francis on points in their hard-fought bantamweight contest.
Francis came out attacking, landing some punches to the ribs and face of his opponent. But Blackman eventually found his rhythm, using his long hands to good effect as he kept Francis at bay with timely jabs.
Two straight rights from Blackman sent Francis onto the ropes but he recovered well to land two jabs of his own, as the fight went the full three rounds.
Keithland King continued his dominance on the regional amateur circuit, forcing Lyndel Marcellin of St Lucia to retire at the end of the second round of their scheduled three-round welterweight bout.
Barbados Youth Service’s Kishmar Husbands recorded the fastest victory of the night when he knocked down Derrick Hyman in 25 seconds.
Shortly after the sound of the bell, Husbands connected with a powerful right hook under the chin of Hyman, sending him to the floor. Hyman’s trainer then hurriedly threw in the towel.
Earlier, twin brothers I’Darcos Austin and I’Wisey Austin entertained the crowd in their pinweight contest, before I’Wisey retired in the third round due to exhaustion.
In the lone female fight, former long-distance runner Mary Fraser won on points against I’Precious Lythcott.
