GOA hails Paris’s contributions to boxing with ‘ambassador’ status

The services of Guyana’s lone Olympic medalist Michael Parris have been retained by the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA), as President of the GOA, K.A. Juman-Yassin, hopes that Parris can contribute to the development of local boxing.
Renowned Guyanese boxer Michael Parris will, for the next year or so, take on a new role within the sport of boxing through the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA).
Parris, who won Guyana’s lone Olympic medal – a bronze – in the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, Russia, has long expressed his willingness to assist in the sport, and will now be given the chance.
In making the announcement, GOA President K.A Juman-Yassin highlighted that Parris was trained locally in Guyana’s ‘heyday’ of boxing, and, as such, he hopes the GBA would utilise Parris’s expertise.
“Michael Parris is now, I could say, an ambassador to the GOA for now until the end of next year,” the GOA President announced. He added, “We hope that associations, especially the Guyana Boxing Association (GOA), could utilise him, so that they could get the experience and the enthusiasm.
“I know he wants to give back a lot to boxing. He grew up in the ‘heyday’, when our boxers were actually being trained and coached here in Guyana, and I hope he could be utilised,” Yassin commented.

It is understood that the veteran boxer will receive a stipend for his work with the local Association.
Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) President Steve Ninvalle shared that he is pleased with the development, especially the strides being made to reward local boxers and officials monetarily.
“We’re glad that you could’ve seen it fit to, more or less, provide a stipend for Mr. Parris, and this is the way that boxing will be going,” the BGA boss said.
Expounding on that note, Ninvalle divulged, “We’ve found that AIBA has said also, even our national tournaments, there must be prize monies for our national tournaments. So, as it is in the World Championships, where we have our fighters having a chance and opportunity to fight for US$100,000, US$50,000 or US$25,000, when it comes down to the level of the Caribbean Championships and the AMBC Championships and our National Open, there will have to be monetary rewards for the winner of each category.

“I can see this being a fillip and injecting much more energy and enthusiasm into the sport of boxing,” Ninvalle concluded.
Two years after winning Guyana’s only Olympic Games medal in 1980, Michael Parris moved on from his amateur boxing career, turning pro until 1995, when he retired from the sport. The bantamweight fighter had 48 bouts in his amateur career and 29 in his professional years. He won the National Bantamweight title first in 1983, and then went on to become a four-time title winner in his weight class. (Jemima Holmes)