Walters, Mullings shine on Hands of Gold card

Leroy Brown, Gleaner Writer

Last Thursday was a great night for Jamaica's boxing, as the Hands of Gold Series made an impressive 2011 debut.

Two exciting young Jamaican boxing stars, Nicholas Walters, 18-0 (15 knockouts), the World Boxing Association Fedelatin champion, and Sakima Mullings, 5-1 (3), the new Commonwealth Boxing Council Zonal middleweight champion, had the large crowd at the Karl Hendrickson Auditorium at Jamaica College cheering wildly, as they disposed of their opponents inside the distance.

Walters scored a very impressive technical knockout victory over Argel Salina 14-9 (7), from Mexico, stopping him at two minutes 46 seconds of the second round, to register his third successful defence of his title. Mullings knocked out Winston Pompey from Guyana in the fifth round of their scheduled ten-round fight. In the third fight on the card, middleweight champion Rikardo Smith defeated journeyman Anthony Osbourne on points over six rounds.

Promoted by Title Events in association with the Jamaica Boxing Board of Control, the programme got off to a rocky start, as the spectators who were early had problems getting inside the venue. Some spectators were visibly annoyed and tempers boiled over occasionally, but things eventually smoothed out and ran seamlessly for the remainder of the night. All the early anxiety dissipated as soon as the action started, however, and the boxing on show throughout the night was excellent.

Walters was undoubtedly the star of the night. Fans who were seeing him fight locally for the first time since he became a professional nearly three years ago, marvelled at his poise, and were impressed by his obvious boxing skills.

Jabbed beautifully

He was very cool as he entered the ring, and when the action started, he showed immediately that he meant business. He put his full repertoire of punches on display from the beginning of the fight. First, he jabbed beautifully and snapped back his opponent's head repeatedly. He then seamlessly shifted his attack to the body when Salinas used deft head movement to avoid some of his punches, and his well-timed combinations after this gave his opponent many anxious moments.

Salinas, in the meantime, was hardly able to land a blow, and Walters took the first-round comfortably. He was on the attack quickly in the second round, and Salinas was put on the defensive immediately. He could not find any respite, despite his gallant efforts, and it was all downhill for him, as the champion made it clear that he was in for an early night.

At the halfway mark in the round, Walters unleashed a mixture of head and body punches on his opponent and a short, power-packed uppercut put Salinas on his back. He got to his feet, took the remainder of the mandatory eight count standing and then resumed action. The recovery was short-lived, however, as Walters swarmed all over him, hitting at will and, after a couple of savage head blows had landed, referee Frank Gentile stepped in and called a halt.

Another night's work had ended for the champion and there is no doubt that a world-title shot for him is not too far away, if he continues to show due diligence with his preparation for fights.

In the semi-final, Mullings showed that he too has far to go, with an impressive performance against his awkward Guyanese opponent. He won three of the first four rounds and then an explosive left hook to the head knocked out his opponent in a decisive manner.

Unfortunately, he suffered a cut over his left eye after a clash of heads and, although it never caused him any serious problems during the fight, it will prevent him from fighting for a few months.

Fans marvelled at Walters' poise and were impressed by his obvious boxing skills.