Next Caribbean Boxing Championships to be held in Guyana, says Steve Ninvalle

By Jemima Holmes

Whenever the coronavirus pandemic loosens its grip on the world, and some semblance of normalcy is returned, the Land of Many Waters will be hosting the lucrative Caribbean Boxing Championships (CBC).

This was disclosed by Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) President Steve Ninvalle in an exclusive interview with Guyana Times Sport, wherein he discussed this and other pressing issues relating to this association.
While many non-contact sports have been fortunate to resume training or online tournaments, the same cannot be done for boxing, which requires a ring and opponents to get underway. As such, the coronavirus pandemic had taken its toll on this sport, Ninvalle declared.
Sharing on how drastically this pugilistic sport has been affected, and the resulting effect on the Guyana Boxing Association, Ninvalle said, “Well, it’s been extremely difficult; we’ve been able to do almost nothing. When I say almost nothing, I mean in the competition field. We realise and appreciate boxing as a full-contact sport, it’s not like chess or dominoes, but what we’ve been able to do is have some virtual seminars held for our officials; that is: our referee/judges and our coaches.”
Continuing, he said: “We’ve been able to do that on maybe two or three occasions; and maybe, before the year is out, we can have a couple more.”
However, the Association has much to look forward to, as it has agreed to host the highly competitive Caribbean Boxing Championships, of which Trinidad and Tobago are the reigning champions.
“As it is right now, Guyana has accepted an offer to host the next Caribbean Championships, whenever that is. And I say, ‘whenever that is’, because all of our actions are dictated by COVID-19 at this time. But we have accepted that offer, it is our hope that we can host within the first quarter of 2021,” the GBA President disclosed.
This, Ninvalle explained, would be a boost to Guyana, as the country stands a better chance of copping the title when it is the host. Guyana won the championships in 2016 and 2018, in both years of which it was host. Although putting up a fight and contesting several decisions, the team finished 3rd last year.
“We really lost the Caribbean crown in 2017 because we were not able to send a full team to St. Lucia, and then we regained it in 2018 after it was held in Guyana,” he explained.
While the GBA boss shared that it is common to have concerns about the fitness of the athletes, he explained that it is a worry being shared by the Caribbean and Latin America. He said, “So we take a bit of solace in that, cause we’re all on the same footing.” This statement is in regard to the training situation in most countries.
“Anyone would be concerned about that, because you’re not getting to do as you should; but, then again, I said this is not unique to Guyana. So, right across the Caribbean and Latin America, we’re all on the same footing, it’s not that Guyana alone is not training, but the entire Caribbean. As a matter of fact, boxing is not being held around the world, other than professionally. So, we know that we stand ready to shift gears once the Ministry of Health gives us the go-ahead.”
He noted that rushing a tournament would not be beneficial if the national ports in other countries are not open, thus hindering regional participation.
“Let’s say, for the simple sake of us hosting a tournament, it’s no use that Guyana is open but Trinidad is not open and Barbados is not open and Jamaica is not open. Then it means that no one can come here, because they’re not getting to leave their island to come here. So, it has to be an all-encompassing thing, whereby we check fully what is going on around the Caribbean,” the GBA boss commented.
“If it’s a level playing field, and everyone is open, then the Caribbean Championship can go ahead,” he went on to say, regarding the hosting of the CBC tournament.