The Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) is still on the ropes battling sponsorship issues but the 100-mile walk to raise funds championed by president of the association, Steve Ninvalle, has given the GBA a fighting chance of sending a formidable team to represent Guyana at the Caribbean Development Tournament in Barbados.
According to Ninvalle, the three-day walk-a-ton from Corentyne, Berbice to the city which concluded on Sunday, yielded in the neighbourhood of $700,000.
The herculean effort was key to offsetting some of the $2M needed to send the team of 10 boxers, three referee/judges and three coaches to the December 6-10 fixture at the Sea Rocks Dome in Christchurch.
Ninvalle said that he is optimistic that all 10 of the pugilists will be able to wing out today since LIAT has offered the outfit concessionary fares in the interest of being a corner man for the fistic sport.
Territories competing in the second tournament of its kind includes inaugural host, Guyana, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Belize, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Martinique, St. Lucia, St Maarten, Trinidad and Tobago, The US Virgin Islands and the host.