Mullings

Veteran boxer Anthony Osbourne had another 'L' added to his record last Friday night after his loss to Sakima Mullings at the Stony Hill Primary and Junior High School.

What the record will not show, however, is the gutsy performance put on by him, in the main bout of a five-fight card organised as a farewell to Bruising gym amateur boxers Michael Gardner and Felice Groves, who left the island Saturday for a Cardiff, Wales training camp.

He used a tight defence and occasional flashes of offensive brilliance to go the six-round distance, in a fight that many had predicted would end with him being knocked out. Most people thought that it would have been an easy fight for Mullings, who is the Commonwealth Zonal middleweight boxing champion. It turned out to be just the opposite however, because, although Mullings won five of the six rounds, he had to work hard each round for his victory, and looked very vulnerable in the sixth round, when Osbourne launched a surprisingly effective counter-attack that forced him to defend himself and silenced the pro-Mullings crowd for the first time during the fight.

very confident

Mullings started out very cautiously, while Osbourne, who looked very confident despite the fact that he was the underdog, landed some effective jabs. Both men exchanged body shots near the end of the round and Mullings stepped up the pace a notch to take the round.

Mullings started off quickly in the second stanza and Osbourne engaged him at close range. He soon had to call on his defensive skills, however, as Mullings reeled out his repertoire of power punches and spectators had a lot to cheer about during these exchanges.

The next three rounds were very competitive, with Mullings being the aggressor and Osbourne parading his defensive prowess. He did an excellent job protecting himself from some hard shots aimed at his body, and then for good measure launched the occasional offensive barrage.

Osbourne then shocked not only Mullings but the large crowd that attended, when instead of going away meekly, he launched a concerted counter-attack. He had Mullings on the defensive most of the way, and hurt him a couple of times to end the fight on a positive note. All the judges scored the fight 59-55 and scored the final round for him.

There was an entertaining four-bout amateur card, which saw Bruising gym boxers defeating boxers from other gyms. Sanjay Williams defeated Jaheim Jackson, James Douglas outpointed Julian Johnson, Omar Campbell stopped Dwayne Peart in the third round of their contest and Kestna Davis scored an impressive victory over Oshane Cleary.