Shown are some of the scenes for the "Caribbean Showdown" event featuring Bahamians going up against Jamaican fighters on Friday night at the Kendal G.L. Isaacs National Gymnasium. In the featured fight of the night, Meacher "Major Pain" Major returned to the ring after a 14-month hiatus and scored a knockout victory over Jamaican Martin "Killer" Anderson. (Photo: Ahvia J. Campbell)
Professional boxing returned to the capital over the weekend at the Kendal G.L Isaacs National Gymnasium, with three of the nation's top boxers scoring victories on the card that was dubbed the "Caribbean Showdown", featuring Bahamians going up against Jamaican fighters.
Meacher "Major Pain" Major scored a knockout in the main event after a 14-month hiatus, Jermaine "Choo Choo" Mackey made quick work of his opponent and Anthony "Psycho" Woods scored a victory in his lightweight match-up.
Meacher Major vs. Martin "Killer" Anderson (JAM)
After suffering a severe foot injury in his last fight, Major returned to form in a four-round bout. Both fighters came out aggressive, looking to impose their will on each other, but Major seemed to be one step ahead from the "get-go". With 2:45 left to go in the second round, Major caught Anderson with a right jab that forced him to go down and take a knee. After a standing eight count, Anderson expressed to the referee that he was hurt and unable to continue.
"I'm thankful that I was able to come out in front of the home crowd and also that I could get the win," said Major. "I was looking for a bit of a longer fight to get myself back into the groove of things, maybe a few more rounds, but nonetheless, it was a good win and I'm satisfied that I was able to put him away."
Pain suffered the foot injury in December 2014 in a lightweight bout against Roger Rosa of Brazil (6-5-1). The show's promoter, Reynaldo Minus, said that he was proud of the way that Major performed in his return, after dealing with such a tough injury and rehab process.
"Boxing in The Bahamas is back and Major Pain is leading the way," Minus said. "He executed perfectly, caught the guy with a good shot and that's all you could have asked him to do."
Jermaine "Choo Choo" Mackey vs. Martin "The Destroyer" Anderson (JAM)
It was an early night for Mackey as he scored a second round technical knockout (TKO) over Anderson. Mackey jumped on his opponent from the start and used his reach advantage to control the fight up to the point of the knockdown that initially ended the fight.
"I just saw some openings and took advantage of the chance to get some shots in," he said about the fight. "He wanted to move a lot and was getting some shots in, but on that last sequence, I saw the punch and came in with the uppercut before he could throw his. I followed up with a straight right and that was the end of it. He fought a good fight and gave a great effort."
Anthony "Psycho" Woods vs. Clinton "Killer" Lewis (JAM)
Woods was the first Bahamian to find success on the night. In one of the more evenly contested bouts, Woods found success with body shots against the southpaw Jamaican. The bout went the distance, but Woods led the entire time, dodging a number of wild hooks from Lewis, who appeared to be looking to land a knockout blow.
"I just went in there and worked my jab like coach told me to," he said. "He had a lot of talk leading up to the fight, but I knew I was going to win this one. He held on to me a lot, when I was looking to put him away, but I'm still pleased with how I performed."
In the first professional fight of the night, Bahamian Lester "LJ" Brown took on Jamaican Toriano "King" Nicholas in a four-round bout. The fight went the distance and ended in a draw.
Sponsors of the event included BTC, Liquid Courage, Negril Cafe, Sports Nutrition Products Bahamas Ltd., KK Air Conditioning, Buttons Formal Wear and the Euphoria Carnival Group.
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