Local boxers for World Championships, Junior Pan Am Games

The Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) is eyeing a string of international tournaments in the coming months on both the senior and junior levels.
While there were three tournaments previously on the cards: the Americas Boxing Confederation (AMBC) Elite Championships, the International Boxing Association (AIBA) World Boxing Championships, and the Junior Pan American Games, it has been cut down to two with the cancellation of the Elite Championships.
President of the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) Steve Ninvalle shared this information on Wednesday, simultaneously giving reasons for the event’s cancellation.

“The reasons, there was one reason, being that the AMBC championships (were) just too soon after the Olympics and too near to the World Championships. That’s one of the reasons (that were) given,” Ninvalle informed media operatives.
The Elite Championships were set to be hosted in Colombia from September 25th to October 4th.

In spite of this, the GBA boss revealed that the Association would still send a team to the World Championships scheduled for October 24th to November 6th in Belgrade, Serbia.
“Nevertheless, we have – and the Technical Director Mr Terrence Poole will be able to guide us on that – we have selected a team for the World Championships that will be held in Belgrade, former Yugoslavia, and I think we’ve selected three persons to go on that team.”
He then added, “Those three persons were the same three we would have selected to head to the AIBA Elite Championships.”
That team will comprise Olympian Keevin Allicock (featherweight) light welterweight Colin Lewis and middleweight Desmond Amsterdam. Completing the four-person team will be National Three-star Coach Terrence Poole M.S.
Ninvalle has expressed interest in boosting the female capacity in the sport. This drive will start with promising youth boxer Alesha Jackman, who a few months ago missed out on the opportunity to participate in a qualifying tournament for the first-ever Junior Pan American Games.
According to the GBA boss, this was due to a “mix up in guardianship”, owing to the fact that Jackman’s mother had recently passed away. In that moment, there was not enough time for the executives to straighten out the issues with her guardianship before the team was scheduled to travel.
However, the GBA has explored other avenues to get the talented female boxer into the classy youth competition later this year.
“We are also seeking to have much more involvement of our females,” Ninvalle began.
He continued by stating, “Nevertheless, young Ms Jackman, we’ve asked that she’s included, because the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has just sent out communique to the GOA, and a door has been opened whereby we can include two other persons for the Junior Pan Am Championships.
“We have submitted those names, and now we’re just awaiting word from the Guyana Olympic Association on if they have been accepted or not,” the GBA President revealed.
The Junior Pan American Games are slated for November 25 to December 5 in Cali, Colombia, with four Guyanese athletes already qualifying for the event. They are table tennis player Miguel Wong, swimmer Aleka Persaud and badminton players Priyanna Ramdhani and Akili Haynes. (Jemima Holmes)