Guyanese Olympic-bound boxer Keevin Allicock, after arriving in Russia last Thursday, has begun training ahead of the upcoming Olympic Games.
Keevin Allicock
Allicock, who is being accompanied by his long-time Coach Sebert Blake, started his usual training exercises over the weekend, but went into full camp mode on Monday in Moscow, where he is being afforded the opportunity to train, compete, and spar with other aspiring boxers. The training camp has a three-week duration.
In video updates disseminated by Coach Blake, Allicock can be seen sparring with foreign boxers, working on his speed, agility, stamina and working with a ‘slip line’, in order to perfect his slipping technique.
Following the three-week training camp, Allicock is expected to emerge as a much stronger boxer, especially in the face of international opponents, as he hunts Guyana’s second Olympic medal later this month.
Upon completion of the camp, the Guyanese duo will head straight to Tokyo for the July 23 to August 8 Summer Olympics.
Allicock, who qualified based on his world ranking (19th in his weight class), is the first Guyanese boxer to have qualified for the international quadrennial event in the last 25 years. The last Guyanese boxer who achieved the feat was light heavyweight pugilist John Douglas. Douglas repped the Golden Arrowhead back in 1996, in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
(black T-shirt) during a sparring session in Russia
To date, Guyana has copped only one Olympic medal, which came at the Moscow Summer Games in 1980. Similar to Allicock, Michael Parris fought in the bantamweight division and secured a bronze medal at those Games.
Allicock, table tennis player Chelsea Edghill, track and field athletes Jasmine and Aliyah Abrams and Emanuel Archibald, and swimmers Andrew Fowler and Aleka Persaud make up Guyana’s contingent to the Tokyo Games.
