Pepsi/Mike Parris Boxing Tournament preps fighters for foreign engagement

With three months remaining before they hit the regional stage at the Caribbean School Boys and Juniors Tournament, local youth boxers were given another opportunity to test their skills against their counterparts in yet another Pepsi/Mike Parris U-16 meet.

That meet took place this month at the Andrew ‘Six Head’ Lewis Gym in Albouystown, and more than five gyms from around the country participated.
Results from that encounter are as follows: Malachi Sealey of the Young Achievers Gym (YA) went down to Sean Graham of the Forgotten Youth Foundation (FYF).
Maldini De Silva of the YA went down to Dwyane Baptiste of the FYF.
Wayne Castillo of the FYF went down to his gym mate Malachi Jones; and Daniel Wright of Vergenoegen Boxing Gym suffered defeat at the hands of Alex Butcher of the YA.
YA’s Shurlon Benjamin was outclassed by FYF’s Jaqwan Milo, but the YA had their revenge when Joshua Joseph of FYF fell to their boxer Emmanuel Pompey.
FYF’s Patrick Harvey later registered a win over Rose Hall Jammers’(RHJs’) Francis Sukhu in the ring.
A number of exhibition bouts, in some cases featuring female boxers, were also staged.
Akeelah Vancooten of FYF took on Jermin Andrews of the same gym, and the dominant Alesha Jackman was pitted against Ryan Benjamin. Her sister, Abiola Jackman, also came up against Hasha Holder. The final exhibition fight saw Richard Howard of FYF coming up against Shaquency Wright. All these were entertaining fights.
This year’s Caribbean School Boys and Juniors Tournament will be contested in Guyana from August 16-18, and is expected to feature Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and St Lucia.
Newcomers to the tournament will be Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. The presence of these two powerhouse boxing nations will make for exciting competition. Guyana is currently reigning champion, having won the tournament for the past three years.