Desmond Amsterdam has made history for Guyana in boxing his way to a bronze medal at the Americas Boxing Confederation (AMBC) Elite Continental Championships, which would conclude later this week.
Desmond Amsterdam delivering a shot to Aguirre’s jaw
A welterweight, Amsterdam is the only boxer from the three-man Guyanese team who was able to walk away with a medal, and by extension a cash prize. President of the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA), Steve Ninvalle, is nonetheless immensely proud of the team and its showing on the Latin America-dominated stage.
Desmond Amsterdam in combat
“I would like to take time out, on behalf of my Executive, to applaud the team that went to the AMBC Elite Championship, but more so, the member of the Guyana Defence Force, Mr Desmond Amsterdam,” Ninvalle declared during a comment invited by this publication.
He highlighted, “I think the entire team did well. When we look at the performances of the boxers, and coming off of almost, or more than, 2 years of inactivity, I think they performed well.”
Taking on Hector Aguirre from Mexico in the welterweight semifinal, Amsterdam unfortunately lost by unanimous decision. However, it still meant that he would cop a bronze medal, a feat that has sent Ninvalle proverbially over the moon.
“It’s the first medal that we will be having in those games! It will not be our last, but it’s or first medal, so I need to applaud his performance,” Ninvalle related.
Turning his attention to the other boxers’ performances at the games, Ninvalle found positives even in the most unfortunate situation of Jamal Eastman’s disqualification. The GBA boss explained, “Even Jamal Eastman who was disqualified, during his first round he gave a good account of himself. So, while it tells us that we have work to do, we’re a bit excited knowing that we have athletes of quality. We have athletes that can stand up with the best in Latin America, and Latin America has some of the best in the world.”
Going forward, Ninvalle hopes to improve upon the skills of his senior international boxers through consistent training.
“We will keep on having them train at a high level. There’re certain things that we’ll be discussing as an executive as it relates to moving forward,” he said in this regard.
