Caribbean Boxing Championships starts tomorrow in St Lucia

Dec 12, 2017 Sports, https://www.kaieteurnewsonline...omorrow-in-st-lucia/

“Team Guyana drastically reduced due to lack of funds” – GBA Head

By Sean Devers
President of the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) Steve Ninvalle says a drastically reduced Guyana Boxing Team will travel to St Lucia to defend their Caribbean Championships title (formerly known as the Caribbean Development Boxing tournament) which commences with the opening Ceremony tomorrow evening at 19:00hrs and concludes December 16.
“It was the intention of the GBA to send 13 boxers, two Referees/Judges and three Coaches,” informed the GBA Head.
Referee/Judges Lawrence Asannah and former Berbice Cricketer, Maynard Wilson will sit exams in St Lucia and once successful will be handed AIBA One Star badges.
Ninvalle informed that the team would be reduced due to lack of funding for the Event which Guyana won in the inaugural 2015 tournament in Guyana and enjoyed a successful title defence last year in Barbados.
“We (GBA) need approximately three and one half million dollars and only received financial support from the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) and National Sports Commission (NSC). What we will have to do now is to prioritize the selection with the better boxers who are likely to win,” Ninvalle explained.
The GBA Boss disclosed that due to the reduction in the size of the team Guyana are unlikely to get enough points to regain the championship honors this year.
Forgotten Youth Foundation’s (FYF) 18-year-old Keevin Allicock was adjudged the best Boxer of the recently concluded Terrence Alli National Open Champions, while GDF’s Colin ‘Superman’ Lewis the other contender for that accolade, will lead the Guyana charge after they won gold last year in Barbados. Allicock also won a silver medal at the Youth Commonwealth Games in Bahamas earlier this year. Ninvalle added that the team would be known today.
It is expected that 90 bouts, including seven of them expected to be female bouts will be showcased with 10 female boxers (five from Barbados, two from Trinidad and Tobago, and one each from Aruba, Grenada and hosts Saint Lucia) set to participate.
President of the Saint Lucia boxing Association David Christopher pleaded with the Saint Lucian population to come out and support the tournament as if it was their own due to the fact that the local Association was bearing the full cost of the event.
He singled out the Saint Lucia Olympic Committee Incorporated, the Department of Youth and sports, and some local business interests for making a substantial intervention after funds from the International Boxing Federation (AIBA) were not forthcoming.
Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Cayman Islands, Dominica, French Guyana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guyana, Haiti, Martinique, Saint Maarten, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and hosts Saint Lucia are expected to compete.
“We started with a budget of $96,000 (EC) dollars, but that will certainly go up by the time the championship is ended,” Christopher disclosed.
Past President Joseph “ Reds “ Perreira says his interest is to get as many Saint Lucians as possible to come out and support the local team and the Championship in general as it was an event of great significance to Saint Lucia and the Caribbean.
“We want to see all seats filled. The admission is not really a charge but should be seen as a contribution towards the effort to bring such a huge event to Saint Lucia.”