By:
Michael Phillips
After several years in the background of the local boxing scene, Christopher ‘Shaka’ Henry was beaten on a split decision when he stepped back into the ring for the first time. Fighting in the feature bout on Friday night when he hosted a dinner show and international boxing card at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, Henry lost to Jamaica’s Ramel ‘Sub-Zero’ Lewis.
From the first bell, Lewis showed his intent to take down the former Olympian with his heavy punches. However, a now-slightly slower and older Shaka held sway in the round as he tested Lewis with several left jabs to the face. The same would hold in the second round as the still agile Henry moved around the ring effortlessly.
Henry allowed Lewis to move him to the ropes several times – a tactic he used to provide him with some rebound power as he bobbed and weaved while delivering numerous jabs. Lewis got wise to the strategy and took the opportunity to land some heavy punches, but he was still out-punched by the taller Henry. In the third round, Shaka continued to be pushed to the rope where Lewis was still searching for a knockout punch. He looked to get the better of Henry with a few hooks, but there was not enough steam behind them to see the 43-year-old go down.
Henry, who fought from the blue corner, opened the fourth round with a renewed energy and stunned Lewis with the speed of his punches. However, the same thing held and he found himself on the ropes yet again as both boxers began to fade.
The fifth saw Shaka switching things up as he got back to using his reach to keep Lewis at bay. He began to mix things up with jab-hook combos but Lewis’ chin was constructed of granite and the stocky Jamaican refused to go down.
Sub Zero was determined to end things in the final round as he rocked Shaka on the ropes for the better part of the round, but Shaka held his footing to the bitter end. When the judges’ rulings were announced, two scored 59/56 in favour of the red corner while the third gave 56/48 towards the blue corner, seeing Lewis take the bout on the split.
There were five other fights on the night and the action got off the ground with Iprecious Lythcott beating her older sister and Belfield Gym-mate Iniggakaya in a Women’s Novice Bantamweight bout. Deraun-Duval Hunte, a Welterweight who fights out of Henry’s school, beat out Mikhail Cox of the Thunderbird Gym. The first major bout of the night saw Mary Frasier beating Jamaica’s Felice Groves in a Women Open Bantamweight match-up. There was a Cruiserweight fight with Pedro Skeete getting the better of Joblee Williams.
The penultimate fight of the night went to Revlon Lake of Guyana when he was given the fight after a split decision. In an instance reminiscent of the 2016 Ms. Universe fiasco, his opponent, Barbados’ Julian Tannis was named the winner and duly began his celebrations. However, a subsequent announcement reversing the result was made when Tannis was in the throes of jubilation.
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