Junior welterweight Cassius Matthews has gained the nod of World Boxing Council cruiserweight champion Wayne `Big Truck' Braithwaite.
Braithwaite, who is on vacation in Guyana may be placing his money on junior welterweight Matthews when he meets Shawn Holder in the feature contest of a Smart Touch Promotion in collaboration with Comfort Zone Taxi Service boxing card at the MSC ground in Linden tomorrow.
"I'll have to give the edge to Cassius Matthews. He has more skill and I think that Shawn Holder has been off for a while," the world champion said from his hotel room yesterday.
However, Braithwaite, who will be a guest of honour at the card, reasoned that it should not be a walkover and a close encounter could be expected. "I expect it to be a wonderful fight but Matthews has the edge."
Matthews, who hails from Linden and Holder meet in a six round junior welterweight bout. The fight is the first for Matthews in his hometown. Holder is under the eye of Lennox Daniels, who when contacted scoffed at Braithwaite's forecast.
"One true thing is that it will be a good fight. Shawn Holder always used to give Andrew `Six Head' Lewis a fight and a doubt that Matthews is as tough as `Six Head," Daniels said from the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
"What I sure about is that Matthews has a big fight on his hand. Shawn has been working very hard and has done a lot of rounds of sparring. We are fully prepared for Cassius and Linden," Daniels said.
Tomorrow's card will also feature Guyana's most exciting female fighter Gwendolyn `The Stealth Bomber' O'Neil. The world ranked light heavyweight will match gloves with Geraldine Cox in the main supporting bout over four rounds.
The fight will be the first female light heavyweight bout to be held in the mining town. Daniels, who also is the trainer of `The Stealth Bomber' also predicted a win for the power-puncher who has vowed to rain "licks like peas" on her opponent.
In one of the supporting bouts undefeated bantamweight Leon Moore tackles veteran Wayne Coates. Several amateur bouts are also scheduled.