Grateful for the return of amateur boxing for the first time in more than two years, Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) President Steve Ninvalle has announced the hosting of a U-16 Championships twice monthly.
GBA President Steve Ninvalle
With the Caribbean Schoolboys and Juniors tournament set for August, Ninvalle noted that “we would need to have our young pugilists have as much competition as possible” .
The GBA, backed by sponsors Pepsi, hosted its Mike Parris U-16 Championships last weekend at the Andrew “Six Head” Lewis Gym in Albouystown, Georgetown.
A look at the action from last weekend’s U-16 tournament
At the event which heralded the return of competitive boxing for the first time since the advent of COVID-19, Jeremiah Duncan, hailing from the Young Achievers Boxing Gym, copped the coveted best boxer award, while Vergenoegen and Berbice Jammers were joint winners for the Best Gym trophy.
“We would want to thank Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) for being on board. We would also like to thank the National COVID-19 Task Force for finding it fit and having the trust in us to approve the tournament and for being able to stay within the guidelines mapped out by the National COVID-19 Task Force,” Ninvalle said.
According to the GBA President, “we’re coming out of two years of not having any competitive boxing, so we need every single round that we’ll have. With that, I’ve spoken to National Coach Lennox Daniels and with the Technical Director, Terrence Poole (MS) and we’ve decided that twice a month there will be a U-16 competition.”
The recent U-16 Championship saw exceptional performances from the boxers fighting out of the Vergenoegen and Berbice Jammers Boxing Gyms.
“It was also heartening to note that Rosehall Jammers was able to provide such a large team and the return of Vergenoegen to our fold. Vergenoegen has been out for some time, but Mr Clifton Moore has promised me that he has been training his boxers and they will be back,” Ninvalle said.
He declared, “Boxing is back with a bang, especially in the nursery department [U-16 level], which we said we would be placing so much emphasis on.”
“It was heartening to see what took place this weekend, to see the sort of professionalism with everyone involved. It gives me a lot of energy to move forward. So, people can expect a lot of nursery boxing now until August or even beyond that, because as I said, this is our focus right now – the nursery of the sport,” Ninvalle said.
At the 2019 Caribbean Schoolboys and Juniors Championships hosted at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, Guyana, thanks to a table-leading eight gold medals and best boxer performances by Patrick Harvey (male junior) and Alisha Jackman (female schoolgirl), was able to maintain a firm grip on the overall trophy.
