Sampson, Barker, McGarrell at Int’l U-16 Boxing Championships
Roopish Balgobin (yellow) began the night with a win for Rose Hall Jammers
Under-16 boxers from all across the country converged on the National Gymnasium on Sunday night for what is sure to be the first of many U-16 championships hosted with a touch of international flair.
Tiquan Sampson, Tifina Barker and Jeremiah McGarrell were among some of the promising Guyanese Under-16 boxing stars on show on Sunday night, as the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) hosted its Mike Parris School Boys/Girls and Juniors championships.
There were 11 bouts on the cards at the Mandela Avenue venue on Sunday, inclusive of a female exhibition fight between the Jackman sisters, Abiola and Alesha, who are just returning from the World Championships.
The first fight saw young Roopish Balgobin of Rose Hall Jammers (RHJ) effecting a victory in only the first round of his bout against Makil Ramsarran.
Guyana’s Tifina Barker (blue) makes a lunge towards her opponent, Shania Nunez
The following bout saw Vergenoegen Boxing Gym’s Keyon Britton overcoming Pace and Power’s Isaiah Joyce inside two rounds of their three-round encounter.
The script was the same as the first bout for Jayden King of Rose Hall Jammers when he defeated Stefan Allicock of Pace and Power in one round.
An all Pace and Power bout followed, where Ryan Rogers pummelled his gym mate Khumija Alexander for a victory on points.
Some fireworks were witnessed when ‘the towel was thrown in’, resulting in Pace and Power’s Oshawn Edwards abandoning his contest against Rose Hall Jammers’ Keyon Hamilton, who was later announced as the winner.
Pace and Power had another abandoned contest when their boxer Joshua Bynoe opposed Garvel Flyman of Vergenoegen Boxing Gym. As such, Flyman won that bout.
On the basis of points, Shaquan James of Forgotten Youth Foundation (FYF) overcame Pace and Power’s Chance Niles, while an entertaining three-round contest between Rose Hall Jammers’ Shemroy Winiz and Vergenoegen Boxing Gym’s Jeremiah McGarrell saw the latter winning by unanimous decision.
Meanwhile, Guyana won both international bouts against their Trinidadian counterparts.
Guyana’s Tifina Barker defeated Trinidad and Tobago’s Shania Nunez by way of unanimous decision. Tiquan Sampson kept the Golden Arrowhead flying high when he defeated Prince Charles also of the twin-island republic, to close off the night of youth boxing.
