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Dusard vows to return stronger at home

Published:Monday | July 23, 2018 | 12:00 AMAinsley Walters/Gleaner Writer
Jamaica’s Nicholas Dusard and Italy’s Timothy Bos (third and fourth from left, respectively) shows the fist of tae kwon do unity, along with judges, from left, Roger Benitez, Masdter Brian McNamara, Master Vincent Affatigato and Luis Mejia following their Night of Champions International Taekwon-Do Federation bout at the United States Open in Orlando, Florida.

Jamaica's Nicholas Dusard has said he will use his Night of Champions loss at the recent International Sport Karate and Kickboxing Association (ISKA) United States Open as motivation to prepare even harder for the Amateur Members Association World Championship at home in September.

Dusard, 28, entered the International Taekwon-do Federation (ITF) Night of Champions feature match as the underdog against 20-year-old Italian Timothy Bos, a four-time World champion, who has won six European titles and four World Cup gold medals.

However, Dusard's bid for a third Night of Champions title was dashed when the judges ruled 3-1 in favour of Bos, silencing the vociferous Jamaican delegation backing their champion during the ESPN-televised event.

Dusard took the loss hard.

After posing with Bos for the cameras, a day later he posted on his Facebook page, "Another US Open, more lessons learned, more motivation to train harder. Even when you lose the battle, never lose the lesson."

However, Dusard's handler, veteran martial artist Jason McKay, said the big winner was the ITF style.

 

GOOD REPRESENTATION

 

"It was an extremely good representation of ITF fighting and I am very pleased with the show put on by both fighters.

"At the end of the day, ITF wins. That's what that matters," McKay pointed out, alluding to the exposure the bout got on the July 4 holiday weekend in the United States through live streaming and being featured on ESPN.

Bos, the son of Grandmaster Willem Bos, who flew from Italy to watch the bout, said his superior speed and "control of the tatame (mat)" gave him the edge over the older Dusard.

"It was short but intense," he said, noting that the US Open was unlike European tournaments.

"It's crazy here, so busy and crowded. I didn't expect to see so many people. It's different from European championships.

Meanwhile, Dusard, Jamaica's top ITF fighter, is in Canada and looking forward to the September 13-15 ISKA Amateur Members Association World Championship at the Montego Bay Convention Centre.

Dusard has fond memories of Montego Bay, leading Jamaica to a team-sparring gold medal victory over Canada and Argentina at the ITF World Cup, which was historically staged in the resort town in August 2014.