President of the Guyana Amateur Boxing Association (GABA) Affeze Khan was all smiles yesterday afternoon after he was successful in securing in-transit United States visas for his four boxers.
The boxers who have undergone over six months of intense training say that they are ready to take on their counterparts when they arrive in India for the III Youth Commonwealth Games in Pune, India, October 12-18.
Khan, who visited Stabroek News with his boxers, said he was elated at having passed this first hurdle and added that he was hopeful that the coaches Carl Franklyn and Terrence Poole would be able to have the boxers turn in gold medal performances.
The four boxers selected had previous experience fighting in the Caribbean Amateur Boxing Association (CABA) Championships which was held in Trinidad in late July where they performed outstandingly.
The boxers who will be going to the games are Junior Welterweight Akeem Alexander, Bantamweight Cleveland Rocke, Featherweight Stefan Gouveia and Flyweight Herlando Allicock.
The next step according to Khan, is to have the boxers continue their preparation as they are expected to leave Guyana on October 8 to arrive in India on October 9, giving the team three days to acclimatize themselves before taking to the ring on October 12.
Khan was loud in praise for the United States Consular Section which he said acted in their usual professional manner in issuing the visas.
The athletes, he added, all had their relevant documents at hand and the embassy had no hesitation in granting the visas which they are expected to pick up this morning.
Meanwhile some members of the table tennis team were also issued with visas.
The Chef-de-Mission, earlier identified by the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) as General Secretary of the Guyana Amateur Swimming Association (GASA) Karen Pilgrim accompanied the members of the team to the embassy.
Speaking to Stabroek Sport the four boxers all said that they are in for the long haul and are hoping to bring back gold to Guyana.
“I feel proud going to represent my country and it was something that I was looking for the longest time,” Allicock said.
“I have been waiting for over five years for such a day to arrive when I can prove to one and all that my country will come first,” he added.
Rocke, representing his country a second time, said that he hoped to bring back gold (like he did in Trinidad) and was hopeful that youths out there take a page from his book.“Khan was the courage behind me winning gold in Trinidad and I am sure that he will do the same for me in India,” he declared.
Alexander said that he was looking to do Guyana proud in India.
Gouveia, who was singled out by the GABA president after his performance in Trinidad as one of the best prospects to come out of Guyana recently, said, “I feel proud and the Trinidad success will be overshadowed by the performance in India.”
Meanwhile Khan added that he has full confidence in his boxers returning to Guyana, noting the last tournament where he sent a seven-member team to Chicago, USA that each and everyone of them returned.
