By SHELDON LONGLEY, NG Sports Reporter

slongley@nasguard.com

With as many as seven shows planned this year, First Class Promotions and Promoter Michelle Minus, are gearing up to take Bahamian boxers on the world stage.

They crowned three Bahamian champions last year but their sights are set on regional competition this year and international acclaim for our athletes. They will kick things off with a Bahamas vs. Puerto Rico show next month, at The Wyndham Nassau Resort and Crystal Palace Casino. The grand event will get underway at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, 10th March.

According to Minus, they really want to take the Bahamian champions to the world this year and this Puerto Rican match-up is just a taste of things to come. Headlining the card will be The Bahamas' newly crowned Lightweight Champion, Meacher 'Major Pain' Major. The electrifying lightweight fight is scheduled to occur with Puerto Rican Castillo Rodriquez, in a V8-Splash sponsored 10-round main event.

In the co-main event, Bahamian Super Middleweight Champion Jermaine 'Choo Choo' Mackey is scheduled to hook up with Renee Sierra also from Puerto Rico. That fight is scheduled for eight rounds.

"The Puerto Ricans are no pushovers, so we really expect this show to be a grand event to kick the year off. They are definitely coming here to give our guys a run for their money and the crowd will be in for quite a performance," said Minus. "We want to test our boxers and make sure they haven't lost anything over the Christmas break. We really want to see where they are at and know where we are heading."

Coincidentally, the show is dubbed 'The Big Test.' The only Bahamian champion which was crowned by First Class Promotions last year and who won't be a part of the show, is Junior Middleweight Champion Jerome 'The Bahamian Bronze Bomber' Ellis. According to Minus, after the test against the Puerto Ricans, they will venture into Mexico and then challenge countries such as Barbados, The Cayman Islands, Grenada and Trinidad. In conjunction with the Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE), they intend to line up at least two championship fights for Major and Mackey this year. They are using this first show of the

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year as a tune-up for those Caribbean title shots.

"Some of the toughest fighters in the world come from this region, so we really have to explore this region first and then move on to the world stage," said Minus. According to Minus, those world title shots could come as early as the end of the year. Right now, they are just focussed on the foreseeable future though.

Along with those Caribbean title shots, also lined up this year on their calendar of events, is a World Boxing Association (WBA) Fede-Caribe title defence, featuring Grand Bahamian Sherman 'The Tank' Williams. First Class Promotions is also looking at a British Commonwealth Title match, an International Boxing Federation Inter Continental Championship match and three more Bahamian Championship fights. According to Minus, the welterweight, middleweight and featherweight titles will be up for grabs.

"We are asking the public to come out and support us, because we are really looking forward to great things this year. It is going to be a step above the usual competition, so we are asking our boxers to take advantage of the opportunities in front of them. They very well could go places this year. It's all about getting our young professional boxers tougher opponents, so that they can gain international rankings and eventually get world title shots," said Minus.

Williams is scheduled to defend his WBA Fede Caribe title on Friday, 19th May at The Wyndham Nassau Resort, and those Caribbean title fights featuring Major and Mackey are tentatively scheduled to take place on Friday, 28th July, also at The Wyndham Nassau Resort.

As far as next month's show is concerned, the undercard will feature the return of Wilson 'Kid Wonder' Theophile, as he gears up to take on Elkino 'Ali' Saunders. Also on the undercard, Richard 'The Hammer' Pitt is scheduled to fight David 'The Pacesetter' Wallace, Ricardo 'One Shot' Bethel will fight Anthony 'Psycho' Woods and Sean 'Patches' McPhee is scheduled to take on Leon 'Quiet Storm' Bain.