Chambria impresses with Kingston win

By Cayman Sports Buzz
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Updated: 9 November 2016

When 16-year-old amateur boxer Chambria Dalhouse packed her bags to head to Jamaica, she was eager to get her first career win but returned home, having done that and a little more.

Dalhouse won her three-round bantamweight bout against Jamaica’s Keron Thomas on Saturday, 5 November, 2016. In the opening round, the referee was forced to give her opponent a standing eight count due to a flurry of punches that the Jamaican had no answer for. She returned in the second to send Thomas tumbling to the canvas after a hard right. Another knockdown followed in the final round.

“Oh my gosh, what have I done?” Dalhouse told CaymanSportsBuzz.com about her initial reaction to the knockdown. “I wanted to fight but I didn’t mean to do that.”

Dalhouse goes to the neutral corner as Thomas recovers from the knockdown.

She revealed that having bonded with her opponent, the only other female on the card that night in Kingston, she had no intentions of hurting her. “I was like ‘oh my gosh, are you okay?’”

The teenager, who was in her second competitive fight, said she had to adjust her game plan based on Thomas’ approach. “I was trying to protect myself but at the same time try to get through her swinging. That was a bit difficult,” she said.

“I was going to go with my normal thing but the way she was swinging I knew that wasn’t going to work.”

In the end, she left little doubt in the judges’ minds that she was the winner. The audience ringside even adjusted their tone as the fight progressed. They went from rallying Thomas to dominate Dalhouse to urging her to be cautious against the Caymanian fighter.

Dalhouse impressed in her 1st career win.

Also impressed was her coach, Ryan Barrett, who was in her corner. “No, definitely not,” he said when asked about whether he expected Dalhouse to put her opponent down.

“Chambria is a credit to the Cayman Islands and the boxing association. In the last five months, she’s turned around from being just a normal young lady turning up in the gym, trying to keep fit, to in the future quite possibly one of Cayman Islands’ stars,” Barrett said. “She boxes so well. I can’t believe it.”

He said after the loss to London’s Tilly Cosgrove two weeks earlier, the teenager was back in the gym apparently unperturbed and focused. “For her to turn up again straightway the next week, everyday turned up, trained hard and ready to put more work in with dedication. I can’t ask for no more from her. She’s got a bright future in this game.”

Dalhouse improved her record to 1-1 and is being eyed by the Cayman Islands Amateur Boxing Association for a possible spot on the team for the Youth Commonwealth Games in Bahamas next summer. She has spent most of her time in the ring under the guidance of trainer Donie Anglin.