DOMINICA ADVANCES TO BOXING FINALS IN 2023 ALBA GAMES
Delroy Jno. Charles has won his first boxing match at the ALBA Games in Venezuela.
Jno. Charles who is a police officer by profession scored a judges’ decision win over Silva Jorge of Nicaragua.
Although Jorge stood at a staggering 6 feet 9 inches tall, Jno Charles came out swinging in the first round and landed a number of heavy blows, but couldn't knock the giant off his feet.
The second round was a bit closer, with Jno Charles tasting the fury of the big man, but he shook it off and kept going.
In the third and final round, Jno Charles with the support of not only the Dominican contingent but the Venezuelan fans kept the Jorge at bay and punched his way to a judges’ decision.
The announcement sent the hundreds of patrons into frenzy, as Jno Charles immediately became a crowd favorite.
With the win Jno Charles has advanced to the medal round and will fight again later this week.
In a post-match interview, Delroy Jno Charles described the match up as tough.
“To be honest it was a tough fight, the toughest fight I ever had but no obstacle is too big to overcome. I came in the ring and I did what I had to do. I fell short in certain areas but I can guarantee that my net fight will be better. I will be working, doing some more conditioning and so on. The Nicaraguan is a very powerful fighter but he was a bit slow, so I did what I had to do, since I’ve been here, I’ve been hearing often that when we take part in sporting activities and we don’t place as we wanted to, people say that we came for the experience. But I came here to give an experience and that’s exactly what I did,” Jno. Charles stated.
He noted that while he had to improvise due to the height and size of his opponent, he is happy that he was able to secure the victory.
“My mindset was that he is taller than me, so I am going to work under his punches, get the body shots in. That was my strategy, to work him underneath and then get up to his head and that’s exactly what I did. I did it to the best of my ability; not at a 100 percent as I wanted to but it worked and I was victorious in the end. I thought that I dominated the first and second round. The third round I was a bit fatigued because he is taller than me and he was leaning on me a lot so that can take a toll on the body especially as a short fighter so that ‘cwavay’ me a little bit, but all in all it was good” Jno. Charles added.
Meanwhile, Coach of the National Boxing Team, Mr. McNeal Jones stated that Delroy worked very hard for this win.
“Since we came to Venezuela we have been working on conditioning, speed and getting close with power punches; learning the mistakes the opponents make and just keep on going. We train twice a day, 6 o’clock in the morning and then after lunch until we have to go to the other sporting events. But we worked very hard for this win,” Mr. Jones stated.