Could Guyana see an Olympic medal in boxing come 2020?

At is evident that Guyana is seeing an impressively high level of skills and flair from young boxers who represent the Golden Arrow Head in both the local and regional scene.

Judging from the pugilists’ success in recent months, the future looks bright and hopefully by 2020 their skills are enhanced so they could win Guyana medal/s at the Olympics Games. Repeating or bettering what was done by Michael Parris in 1980 when he won Guyana’s first medal in this very sport, which remains our only decoration from the Games to date.

In November 2016, Guyana recorded a shattering haul of medals at the Caribbean Youth Development Boxing Tournament held in Barbados, reminding the region how robust we are in this sport, having sent 11 youngsters who returned with a total of 10 gold and one silver. Quite astonishing!

Then again at “Nuff Cuff” earlier this month, the intensity was intact.

Never in the history of the event has Guyana been so dominant in the sport, all of which give credence to the position that the level of these athletes is improving rapidly but in order for them to achieve further, support must be given from the country as a whole.

One of the leading coachs –coach of Forgotten Youth Foundation Sebert Blake – has thrown his career on the line, banking all on a medal at the Olympics if he should get the right support from those responsible.

Already, Nicolette Henry, Minister with responsibility for Sport; President of the Guyana Olympics Association, K A Juman Yassin; Director of Sport Christopher Jones; and President of the Guyana Amateur Boxing Association Steve Ninvalle have all pledged their unwavering support towards the development of these individuals.

With the likes of Jason “AK-47” Bakker, Desmond “Dynamite” Amsterdam; both of whom were destructive on first tournament of the year by the Guyana Amateur Boxing Association, Keevin Allicock and Christopher Moore all in the mix, the sport can see a lot of progress if these individuals are nurtured appropriately.

Allicock was adjudged the Best Youth Boxer at the Lennox Blackmoore intermediate boxing card in September 2016, while Moore was given the same title at the championships in Barbados.

But what is particularly surprising, unlike a lot of the sports that are centred in the capital city, boxers have emerged from the outskirts of the other counties and have been just as belligerent as their Georgetown counterparts.

One such fighter is Akil Mounter who hails from Essequibo and has made an instant impact on the boxing fraternity. Similarly there is Jamal Eastman from the Rose Hall Jammers Gym in Berbice doing the Ancient County proud with his exceptional footwork.

However, when visiting a lot of these gyms there is a sense of depravation when it comes to gears and nutritional foods that are both needed to have these boxers in prime condition.

We see boxers sharing gear (old gloves and boots), boxing in a ‘bottom house’ gym with a broken down ring and eating food of far less nutritional value than what is required. Of course some of these boxers are not paid adequately but need financial support to enhance their ability, thus they revert to doing a day job and training in the nights and early mornings.

Therefore it is fair to say with limited resources these boxers are performing in an environment that is not ideally conducive but nevertheless are dominating their regional counterparts. One is only to fathom their thoughts what heights would these talented youngsters achieve should they be given the opportunity they so deserve.

Could we see a gold medal in boxing at the Olympics? Could we see the next Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao coming from Guyana?

All in a nutshell, it is our opinion that the Guyana Amateur Boxing Association is steering these fighters in the right direction and should they get the required support from the administration, corporate Guyana and Government of Guyana, it is predicted at least a medal at the 2020 Games and more positives prior and subsequent to the Olympics.