Early on Monday morning, three Guyanese boxers, along with a coach, departed local shores for Guayaquil, Ecuador where they will fly the Golden Arrowhead high at the American Boxing Confederation (AMBC) Elite Continental Championships.
The boxing team comprise three former Caribbean champions – Colin Lewis (light welterweight), Jamal Eastman (lightweight) and Desmond Amsterdam (middleweight). The accompanying Coach is Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) Technical Director Terrence Poole, MS. The championships run from today, March 22 to April 2, 2022.
GBA President Steve Ninvalle
Coach Poole, along with recently-appointed National Boxing Coach Lennox Daniels, was responsible for training and preparing the team, following an announcement of shortlisted pugilists for the event in January 2022.
According to Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) President Steve Ninvalle, the team departed Guyana on Monday morning for Panama, after which they will travel to Ecuador.
Citing the lack of competitive boxing during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ninvalle viewed the AMBC Championships as a testing ground.
“This is going to be a testing ground for us, because of the fact that we’ve not been in competitive boxing for quite some time, we’re now returning, of course with the exception for the lone Olympic qualifier and the World Championships,” the GBA President shared.
Zeroing in on Guyana’s chances at the championships, Ninvalle expressed his confidence in the ability of the team and told of their commitment to doing well.
“This is the largest team that we are sending in quite a while. I would expect that they would give of their best,” Ninvalle revealed.
He went on to add, “I had a meeting with the Coach and the boxers last evening before they departed, and they’ve also convinced me that they will be giving of their best.”
The GBA boss was keen to highlight the threatening competition that the Guyanese pugilists will face off with later this week.
Guyana’s team for the AMBC Elite Continental Championships prior to departure
“The AMBC Championships will have all the usual powerhouses – Cuba, the USA, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Argentina, just to name a few countries. So, we will be coming up against some formidable opponents and again, we expect them to give their best,” Ninvalle stated.
Similarly to what was done at the Boxing World Championships in November 2021, the International Boxing Association (IBA, formerly AIBA) will be awarding cash prizes to boxers who medal. The medallists in each of 13 male and 12 female weight categories will receive prize money: US$10,000 for gold, US$5000 for silver, and US$2500 for bronze.
In this light, the GBA President referenced Trinidad and Tobago’s Nigel Paul, who claimed bronze and the US$25,000 cash prize in the super heavyweight division at the aforementioned World Championships in Russia last year, highlighting the significant financial boost that this measure will be for amateur boxers across the region.
He noted, “Now he goes to this championship, and [if] he wins that, he gets $10,000 and then there are other competitions held throughout the year.”
As such, the IBA’s move came in for praise from the AMBC Vice President.
“It gives boxers something to work towards. Apart from the pride and the glory, there’s now the financial aspect of it which means a lot.”
