Pepsi/Mike Parris U-16 tournament punches off today
The National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue will today open its doors to accommodate the nation’s under-16 boxers as they begin preparing to compete in the Caribbean School Boys and Juniors’ Tournament, which is specially tailored for young upcoming boxers to test their craft against their Caribbean counterparts in the same age group.
A glimpse of last year’s action in the Caribbean School Boys and Juniors’ Tournament
The School Boys and Juniors Tournament — which sees participation from several Caribbean countries, such as Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and St. Lucia — is usually hosted in the month of August. As such, the Pepsi/ Mike Parris U-16 tournament, which is hosted locally, has been used as a means of preparation for the big stage in the past three years of the Caribbean tournament, and the situation will be no different in 2019.
In bygone years, the domestic competition was hosted at the Andrew ‘Six head’ Lewis Gym in Albouystown, but there has been a change of location for 2019. Given that the youth pugilists are now anticipating a higher level of competition from more seasoned boxing nations in the Caribbean, the local tournament will be hosted at the National Gymnasium as a tactic to get them familiar with the stomping grounds.
Today’s under-16 tournament is expected to feature 7 gyms from across Guyana, inclusive of Georgetown, Linden, Essequibo, Berbice and other environs. A few of those gyms are: Pocket Rocket Gym (Linden), Rose Hall Jammers, Forgotten Youth Foundation, Young Achievers Gym, and Harpy Eagles.
Fourteen bouts are expected to be staged at the event, which will begin at 6pm.
As it relates to the Caribbean School Boys and Juniors’ Tournament, which is slated for August 16-18 at the same venue, Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) President Steve Ninvalle has disclosed that official invitations for the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico will be sent off in the coming week. This is as a result of those teams indicating, to the GBA representatives who were present at the recently concluded Pan American Games qualifier in Managua, Nicaragua, their interest in participating in this tournament.
Guyana will be keen on their preparation for the Caribbean School Boys and Juniors’ Tournament, since they have won the competition for three years straight, and will be looking to repeat the feat this year.
