Dear Editor,
I read with delight the news that my good friend Mr Peter Abdool was elected the president of the World Boxing Council/ Caribbean Boxing Federation (WBC/CABOFE) last week at a meeting in Barbados.
I wish to extend my congratulations to him and I am certain that he will bring fresh and innovative ideas so that the boxers in this region can get more opportunities in the wider world of boxing. Mr Abdool served with me in the Guyana Amateur Boxing Association and knows the sacrifice and problems that amateur boxers face in Guyana. He shared the disappointment when due to lack of money, our promising and talented boxers were unable to go to qualifying tournaments for the Pan-American and Olympic Games. He saw the frustration that pushed some of those boxers to go professional in order to try and earn. He saw that amateur boxers were dedicated but did not have jobs and as such were at times side-tracked in order to survive.
He was aware that boxing has brought glory to Guyana both in the amateur and professional circles, but still the government was not committing resources that could maintain and surpass this position. Unfortunately this situation still subsists and Sports Minister Dr Frank Anthony although he wants to do more cannot, as his budget needs to be enlarged by cabinet.
I make the above points, as up to recently Mr Abdool and myself discussed the way forward for amateur boxing since without a vibrant amateur body, professional boxing would not be strong. We looked at the need for co-operation between the amateur and professional bodies. I pointed out to him my fear that professional boxing would scoop up promising amateur boxers before they fulfilled their mandate as amateurs.
I was not surprised that Mr Abdool indicated that he would try to ensure that amateur boxers stay as amateurs as far as possible and wanted to work more closely with the amateur body in order to secure more resources for their benefit. I do hope that this area of co-operation becomes a reality as our resources are limited.
I am confident that Mr Abdool would keep his promise and I look forward to a very successful tenure with him as the new President of CABOFE.
Yours faithfully,
K A Juman-Yassin
