The Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) is working to ensure promoters of professional boxing cards are encouraged to make money for themselves and the Board.
In an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport, GBBC’s recently elected president Peter Abdool, said boxing promotions on the professional side had slipped over the past few years because promoters were not making money.
The reason, he said, was because “boxing does not have a great name, and corporate sponsorship lags far behind.”
He said as president, he planned to start some campaigning to promote the sport in a more positive way.
“I think we can get corporate sponsorship so that cards from here on can be done in such as way that promoters are encouraged to make money. In addition to that, we want to make sure that we are encouraging boxing which simply means that you’ve got to start highlighting for Guyana what we have achieved.
The truth of the matter is that our successes are overwhelming. We have produced six world champions. . . one little country has (produced) six champions, and when you look at it on a per capita basis, it’s a remarkable achievement. I can’t understand why a corporate sponsor would not log into that and figure out there is mileage in there.”
Abdool queried why a corporate sponsor wouldn’t log on to Leon Moore, who was likely to become a world champion.
He noted that President Jagdeo attends the sport, not because he is obligated to, but because he likes the sport.
“In amateur boxing I can remember going to him once to ask for money and I got one million dollars to send a team overseas,” Abdool declared.
He said once he gets the corporate community to come on board, the public would see promoters like Odinga Lumumba and others playing their part.
Asked if the GBBC was obligated to stage cards, Abdool said:”We are forbidden by the constitution to have anything to do with boxing that earns money. Strictly speaking, the boxing board would prefer not to promote fights.
The only reason we have been promoting is as a stop-gap measure to keep the sport alive, but technically, we would prefer not to.”
“The boxing board is not obligated to stage fights. We only do it if we feel there is a lull in the sport and we can’t get a promoter to come forward, but we prefer to stay out of it. The truth is, we should stay out of it. We are really a sanctioning body that needs to provide a safe environment for boxing, and to help to assist boxers and promote the sport.”
Asked how he felt about being president of the Board, Abdool said,”I think it’s a great opportunity for me to push boxing forward.
“If you look at the Board, it’s an extremely well-constituted board, and boxing as you know, has suffered a bit of a lull, because I think we learnt from West Indies cricket, when you are doing well, you can’t allow the bottom to slip and the bottom has been slipping for the longest while, and half of it has to do with amateur boxing, which is much stronger than it used to be now. Under Afeez Khan, they have gotten their programmes back together, we see they are getting better and better.”
Abdool noted also that Senior Counsel was back with the GBBC. “I’m very happy because he can have a good long look at contracts to make sure that the promoters are well served, the boxers are well served and everybody gets what they are looking for.”
