1 month ago
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STEPHEN ‘BOMBER’ Jones, president of the Jamaica Boxing Association (JaBA), lauded the return of the Wray and Nephew Fight Nights series as a success despite hiccups during the opening staging over the weekend.
The Fight Nights series made its return after a two-year hiatus at the Ferdi Neita Park in Portmore on Saturday night.
While Ferdi Neita Park is mostly known as the home of Jamaica Premier League (JPL) club Portmore United, the JaBA transformed the venue into the perfect stage for their opening fight night.
Reflecting on the event, Jones described it as a success and praised the Portmore community for their support as spectators.
“I think it is a fantastic venue,” he said. “The setup was a uniformed setup that we use at most venues, so the standard was similar.
“The energy came when the people came out to Ferdi Neita Park. The people from Portmore, they are very familiar with the venue. It is their ground, so for us to have boxing there, we were honoured to be able to do it.”
Jones believes that the spectators were treated to an exciting display of Jamaican boxing, ranging from the sport’s amateurs to the best pros the island has to offer.
Jones said it presents a strong start to the series’ long-anticipated return.
“The fights that took place, I think they delivered what we promised they would, and I think it was a good comeback for the Fight Nights, and I’m very encouraged about what we have to look forward to.”
It was not only the spectators who were left happy as Jones said the boxers and their various gyms were also pleased with the night’s event.
He said the Fight Nights series stands as the top boxing platform in Jamaica and will see several boxers and coaches interested in showing their skill at the various stagings.
“What the boxers look forward to is activity. The production that the Fight Nights bring is just a huge cherry on top of it for them,” he explained.
“All the boxers would like to take part in the Fight Night series because it is the premiere platform that we have where so much is expended for it.
“All the coaches want to be a part of it and all the gyms would like to be represented because of all the hype that comes around the Fight Night series.”
The goal for the JaBA is to ensure that the series can improve and remain a long-standing staple in the Jamaican boxing community.
Jones envisions the series growing to become the home for not just Jamaica’s top talents, but for the best boxers from the Caribbean and North American regions.
“More importantly, boxers need to know this is not a one-off thing. The platform is one which they can improve on their careers, and this is important for them, and that is what is happening in Jamaica,” he said.
“This platform will not only be fuelling fighters from Jamaica, but from the other Caribbean countries and in time, from North America as well.”
But it was not all smooth sailing for the opening night as the event was delayed and saw three of the bouts on its projected fight card scrapped.
While committing to improving the series’ operations, Jones admitted thatthere would be situations out of the control of the association.
“The fight card will always have the printed fights that we’d like, but we can never really set the fight card until the day of the weigh-in,” he said.
“It could be any manner of things that could be, where, at the last minute, if it is that a boxer can’t box, we can try find a replacement, but it doesn’t always work out.”
English (US) ·