AFTER A LENGTHY LAY-OFF, Anderson “Tootsie” Emmanuel is finally getting back into the boxing ring. And he couldn’t have asked for a better opponent.
In his first fight in over a year, Emmanuel will face off against the US Virgin Islands’ (USVI) super-heavyweight Clayton Laurent in the featured match of a 14-bout card, when the Barbados Boxing Association (BBA) hosts the annual Horace Phillips Memorial Boxing Tournament at Springer Memorial tonight.
Ironically, Emmanuel’s last fight was also against Laurent back in 2012, to commemorate the then Amateur Boxing Association’s 35th anniversary, with the USVI pugilist coming out on top.
This time, the 2006 Commonwealth bronze medallist is looking to turn the tables.
“I’m going to take him out tomorrow [today],” a confident Emmanuel told SATURDAY SPORT in an interview yesterday.
“The last time we fought I wasn’t in the best condition, and to tell the truth I had some other issues that I was dealing with.
“But I’ve been training twice a day, every day, and I am in really good shape, so this time around it’s going to be a different story,” he insisted.
The Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme’s (BDFSP) Ricardo Blackman and National Gym’s Cobia Breedy will also be looking to impress in their bouts against overseas opponents.
The highly rated Blackman will face off against Guyana’s Delon Charles in their flyweight contest, while Breedy is set to take on Clairmont Gibson of Guyana in a lightweight bout.
Welterweight Jamal Edmund of National Gym and middleweight Leonard Harewood of the BDFSP will also look to fly Barbados’ flag high with wins over the USVI’s Jose Peguero, and Guyana’s Ron Smith, respectively.
The event will also serve as part of the selection process in choosing boxers to represent Barbados at international events during the year.
And with the AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships, the Summer Youth Olympics, Commonwealth Games, Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games Qualifiers and CAC Games all scheduled to be held in the coming months, some entertaining, exciting and high-quality bouts are certainly expected.
