Full resumption of boxing gyms expected in January

– Ninvalle

Following the ghastly effects of the coronavirus pandemic which caused Guyana’s boxing to miss out on Olympic Qualifiers and the Olympic Games itself, Boxing has finally got a move on with the reopening of selected gyms for individual training.
In an exclusive interview with Guyana Times Sport, President of the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA), Steve Ninvalle, explained how they are navigating their newfound freedom with respect to the guidelines given.

“Well, we have been given the go-ahead to have basic activity. Basic activity does not mean sparring, we have not been given the go- ahead to have competitions as yet; but, rest assured, we have our plans as they relate to reopening.” he said.
On the topic of competitions, Ninvalle was keen to highlight that the GBA has no intention to force the hand of either the Health Ministry or the COVID-19 Task Force.
“We have written to the Ministry of Health, by extension the Government, asking for specific areas of resumption, and we have been given the go-ahead for those specific areas of resumption. We would not want to overstep the boundaries at this time, we want to remain within the mandate and the instructions that we received,” Ninvalle detailed.
Further, He stated, “The thing is that we would need that go-ahead so that we could reopen to competitions and so forth.”
Describing the reopening of some gyms as “going good, so far”, the GBA President shared why all the gyms have not reopened.
“Not all of the gyms have restarted, because of individual issues they might have. In the Christmas season, there is usually a lull in boxing activity, so I would say you will see a full resumption of all the gyms by the first week in January.”
When probed about any concerns about the fitness of athletes, and how they will get back into shape for competition, the GBA boss had the following to say:
“Well, across the board, there needs to be a whole revamping. When I say revamping, even to get the athletes back in the gyn has proven to be quite an arduous task. Some persons may have wandered away, and we are now trying to regroup them and bring them back.
“I guess when there is competition, then people will understand that we’re fully back.” (Jemima Holmes)