Boxing 360 has tapped into the rich Guyana resources to sign world rated super bantamweight Leon “Hurry Up” Moore and unbeaten super middleweight Lennox “2 Sharpe” Allen, the reigning New York State champion. Guyana has produced many world champions starting with “Barbados” Joe Walcott around the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th (Walcott as born in British Guyana but grew-up in Barbados), Dennis Andries, Andrew Lewis, Wayne Braithwaite, and Gairy St. Clair (fought out of Australia), along with top contenders Vivian Harris, Patrick Ford, Terrence Alli, Steven and Raul Frank, and Howard Eastman.
“Guyana is not a rich country and, boxing-wise, fighters from there are very hungry to succeed,” Boxing 360 founder and CEO Mario Yagobi said. “Boxing 360 has quite a following there, based on our website (www.Boxing360.com) hits, and I’ve received many emails from Guyanese boxers that want to join the Boxing 360 family. Guyanese love boxing and it’s a tremendous advantage for us that all of the boxers from there we’ve dealt with also speak English.”
Moore is rated No. 3 by the World Boxing Council, behind only Giovani Caro (Mexico) and Simpiwe Vetyeka (South Africa). The reigning WBC super bantamweight champion is Toshiaki Nishika. Moore is also as the No. 13 junior featherweight by the World Boxing Organization.
The 32-year-old southpaw Moore (27-2, 22 KOs), from Georgetown, Guyana, is the reigning WBC CABOFE super bantamweight champion, as well as the former NABA, PABA, Guyanese and CABOFE bantamweight titlist.
Moore captured the WBC CABOFE and NABA bantamweight belts in September 2009, when he won a unanimous 12-round decision against former 2-time world champion Maurico Pastrana. A year ago, Leon won a unanimous 12-round decision versus Indonesia Boxing Association champion Marangin Marbun for the vacant PABA crown. In his last fight (Nov. 16), Moore won a 10-round decision against Breilor Teran in Guyana. The stylish southpaw, who recently moved to New York City, hasn’t lost in nearly four years and he represents Boxing 360’s best chance for its first world champion.
“Leon is getting his immigration papers in order and we hope to have him make his U.S. debut here in New York within the next month or two,” Yagobi noted. “We feel that he is one or two good fights away from a major fight, hopefully for the world title. Because of the division he fights in he’ll probably have to fight for the world title in Mexico or the Far East.
Allen is another Guyanese southpaw who turned pro 6 ½ years ago in Georgetown. Less than a year later, attempting to kick-start his boxing career, he moved to Perth, Western Australia. Things didn’t work-out there as expected for Allen and18 months later he returned home to Guyana.
He fought three more times at home before taking advantage of an opportunity to come to the United States in 2008 as a sparring partner for Bernard Hopkins who was preparing to fight Joe Calzaghe. The 6’ 1” Allen captured the vacant Guyanese super middleweight title a year ago and, soon after, he moved to Brooklyn and signed a promotional contact with Boxing 360.
During the past 11 months, Allen is 4-0-1 fighting in the U.S., and he’s become more comfortable in each fight. Back in November, Allen shook-off the passing of his brother to stop previously undefeated Nick Brinson in the seventh round for the vacant New York State title.
Last Friday night in Yonkers, Allen (14-0-1, 9 KOs), knocked out 23-fight veteran Jesse Orta in the second round. In his previous fight, Orta lasted five rounds against world title challenger Danny “The Golden Boy” Jacobs (20-1). Orta also went the distance with undefeated middleweight prospects Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin (22-0, 10 KOs) and 2004 U.S. Olympian Vanes Martirosyan (28-0, 17 KOs).
“We’re going to start putting him in tougher,” Yagobi added about Allen. “He first fought here last March and it’s night and day between that fight and his last. He is so much more confident now. He trains hard, plants his feet for added power, and is using his natural skills more. We’re going to keep him busy, fighting him every month or two, in order for him to gain experience against American fighters. There’s no rush; he’s only 25 and has a lot of potential. By the end of this year we’ll be able to put him in with almost anybody in the super middleweight division.”
