Exciting Intermediate Championships set for this weekend

As the Guyana Amateur Boxing Association (GABA) prepares for a weekend of heated punches and jabs, Association President Steve Ninvalle promises that the Lennox Blackmoore National Intermediate Championships will be filled with excitement.

The annual event, which is opened to all intermediate gyms, will see a rise in participants in 2018.
“We expect to have over 50 boxers participating in the intermediate competition,” Ninvalle revealed.
The GABA President went on to disclose that this year’s competition was even more special given that gyms from more remote areas have indicated their participation.
“It is historic in the sense that it is the first I think in such a competition in this country that we’re going to have gyms participating from Region Eight, Region Nine and Region One,” he stated.
Added to those areas, boxers hailing from Regions Three, Four, Six, Seven and 10 are already billed for this weekend’s action.
The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) gym are expected to return to defend their championship. However, the competition will be stiff as their old adversaries, Republican Gym (Prisons) are also making their return after a hiatus, owing to their gym being destroyed in the Camp street fire.
“It is expected to be three nights of exciting boxing and then we’ll turn our attention to the National Open,” Ninvalle related.
The National Open in mid-November will act as a precursor to the Caribbean Championships, which are slated for December 6-9.
The first punch will be thrown at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue, at 19:00h on Friday, October 5. The competition will run until Sunday, October 7; admission is $1000 for ringside and $500 for the stands.
Highlighting that the competition is part of the developmental process, Ninvalle noted:
“The more competitions that they have, is the better for them [the athletes]. We’ll be able to have a panoramic view and see what some of the deficiencies that they might have are and what are their attributes.”
Rising star Keevin Allicock of the Forgotten Youth Foundation’s gym was last year adjudged best youth boxer while GDF’s Kevin McKenzie copped the best elite boxer accolade.
Lennox Blackmore, who the competition was named after, won Guyana’s first Commonwealth title in October 1977 after he pummelled Nigerian Jonathan Dele on points in Lagos to lift the lightweight title.