By BRENT STUBBS
Senior Sports Reporter
bstubbs@tribunemedia.net
AFTER postponing the initial show in October due to one of the main event competitors getting injured, First Class Promotions has announced that the first All-Female Professional Boxing Show is back on the agenda.
And according to promoter Michelle Munnings-Minus, the show, which will honour her ex-husband Ray Minus Jr, will have an entirely new cast of fighters from the original show, but she noted that the action will be just as intense on Friday, March 31 at the Kendal GL Isaacs Gymnasium.
“I feel good about bringing the event back after we had to reschedule the original show in October when one of the main event competitors got injured,” said Munnings-Minus of the show that is being held in conjunction with the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture and sanctioned by the Bahamas Boxing Commission.
“We have changed the two competitors in the main event, but that doesn’t mean that we won’t have some quality competitors. This is going to be the first all-female professional boxing show ever to be staged in the Caribbean.”
Munnings-Minus said she’s delighted to be back, this time electrifying the Bahamian public with a different show.
During the show, Munnings-Minus said First Class Promotions will honour its original founder, Ray Minus Jr, who is suffering from ALS, a disease that Munnings-Minus said she hopes to bring more awareness to the Bahamian public.
“We just want to let him know that we are still in his corner, even though he’s not feeling well,” said Munnings-Minus of her former husband, whom she worked with in First Class Promotions as well as Champion Amateur Boxing Club.
“There are not that many people who suffer from this disease and he’s the first in his family to suffer from it, so we want to let him know that we are still here for him and by the end of the show, we hope that everyone in the Bahamas will know what ALS is all about.”
Minus Jr, who had an impressive 37-9-1 record with 27 knockouts, was the Bahamas’ five-time bantamweight champion who went on to become the 1989 Commonwealth Boxer of the Year, six-time British Commonwealth champion, three-time world title contender for the WBA, EWBC and WBO and WBC Continental of Americas champion. As for the participants on the card, Munnings-Minus said they have some “heavy hitters” in both the main and co-main events. The two competitors in the main event have both fought in the Olympic Games. She added there will be no lack of talent and interest in the undercard as well as they put on a “night to remember.”
“We want to do something really special for Ray Minus Jr and, at the same time, ensure that the fans have something that they can talk about for a long time. It’s going to be the first show that we put on before we come back with a British Commonwealth show featuring two females in the main event and the men on the undercard as we mix it up.”
The 10-round main event is expected to be a grudge match between Lindsay Garbatt from Toronto, Canada, who spots a 9-9-2 win-loss-draw record and Jaimie ‘the Miracle’ Mitchell from Las Vegas, Nevada, who is 8-1-2 for the World Boxing Association’s International title.
In the eight-round co-main event, Simone Silva out of San Palo, Brazil with a 17-22 record will take on O’Shea Jones out of Philadelphia with a 2-0-0 record.
Tickets for the show are already on sale and are priced at $35 for general admission and $125 for VIP with refreshments being provided. Tickets can be purchased online at www. bahamasetickets.com or call 242-465-2313.
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