Over the past six decades the sport of boxing, more notably on the professional side, has been a source of great pride for our fledgling nation, spawning a few World and Commonwealth Champions. On the amateur side, our success has been somewhat limited, with a solitary bronze medal at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, one gold medal at the 1978 Edmonton Commonwealth Games, and a bronze medal at the 1990 Auckland Commonwealth Games, along with a smattering at other international events.
Within the last two weeks, amateur boxing has been garnering quite a bit of attention. Unfortunately, the reason for this spotlight has nothing to do with our pugilists’ performances in the ring, instead the focus is a dispute between local sporting authorities and one of our brightest prospects for international success. The war of words that has ensued is beginning to draw comparisons to an amateur boxing match, where two fighters have decided to stand in the middle of the ring, whaling away at each other, punches thrown everywhere, as an appreciative audience wills the combatants on.
At the South American Games (SAG), held in Paraguay in early October, featherweight champion Keevin Allicock missed out on the opportunity of converting his assured bronze medal into either silver or gold, after failing to achieve the weight limit before his semi-final bout with an Ecuadorian opponent. He tipped the scales at 57.7 kg, and in the allotted half-hour window, despite strenuous efforts to lose the excess 0.7 kg, could only manage to get down to 57.1 kg. In a subsequent article in this publication discussing Allicock’s weight issues, it was noted that the boxer had faced a ‘health scare’ at the SAG.
Two weeks ago, Allicock posted a statement on his Facebook page, under the headline, ‘Our Sportsmen and Women Deserve Better’, in which he took the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) and the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) to task, heavily criticizing the way athletes were treated when representing Guyana. In the carefully crafted missive he said, “… after much thought, I have decided to write on an unexpected and scary event that took place as a risk to my health during my stay in Paraguay for the South American Games 2022. My reason for this bold step is to be an advocate for myself and other sports men and women who are deserving of basic yet fundamental privileges.”
Allicock then lamented the fact that neither a physiotherapist nor a medical examiner was part of the Guyanese contingent to the SAG. He went to explain that on October 11th, he was diagnosed with Rhabdomyolysis. “The event, like I mentioned, was unanticipated and in the moment, I was at my weakest yet,” he wrote. “Unfortunately, Guyana did not have a medical examiner. Unfortunately, Guyana did not have a single capable person with professional medical capabilities. Fortunately, assistance was rendered from medical officers of Team Panama until an ambulance arrived. This entire ordeal lasted 30 minutes before the ambulance arrived.”
Allicock then switched his attention to the presidents of the GOA and the GBA pointing out that since his return to Guyana from the games with a bronze medal neither had proffered a word of congratulations nor enquired about his well-being after his medical scare. Allicock’s offering on social media has provoked a hornet’s nest and generated responses from several sources, most notably President Irfaan Ali, the presidents of the GOA and the GBA, and Nicolette Fernandes, one of our representatives at SAG.
Addressing the matter on his Facebook page, last Friday, President Ali stated that he had spoken to “a lot of sportsmen and women and received a lot of calls” concerning the way athletes are treated and how sporting associations are governed. He acknowledged that he had taken cognizance of Allicock’s pain and stated that among other things standards must be set, including medical support, when athletes are representing our country, and government’s role in ensuring that they are adhered to.
Squash champion Fernandes penned a lengthy letter which was published in the daily newspapers, before going viral on social media. Under the caption, ‘Who holds the individuals of our governing sports bodies to account’, the recently crowned World Masters Champion and SAG silver medallist waded into the GBA’s take on the matter which she deemed inappropriate, insensitive and lacking care.
“GBA’s response… demonstrated little respect for Keevin or for the ordeal that he, his family, and the team had been through. It made no mention of arranging for further medical checks to be carried out to ensure that he had suffered no lasting damage. Nor did it congratulate him on securing one of the three medals earned by Guyana in these Games.
“Instead, it rebuked him for daring to make a complaint public and, in fact, blamed him for what had happened, throwing in his allegedly poor training record to deflect blame from itself.
“What it did accomplish was to confirm that GBA’s reputation, rather than the care and support of athletes who give blood, sweat and tears for their country, was its primary concern. I stand by Keevin and everything he has said,” she declared.
Fernandes, a former World Top 20 ranked squash pro and one of our most decorated athletes, now 39, and in the sunset of her career, admitted that she felt compelled to speak up, something she was fearful of doing throughout her illustrious career.
The statement from GBA President Steve Ninvalle (who is also the Director of Sport), which Fernandes referred to, did indeed focus mainly on Allicock’s attendance records at training sessions prior to international events, but regrettably, failed to address the subject of follow up medical examination or further treatment for Allicock. It is quite easy to understand the GBA’s obviously peeved response to the tongue lashing dished out on social media when one takes into account point number three in the statement, which reads, “In the last decade Mr Allicock has been provided more resources than any other local boxer and was availed access to every major international tournament in the world. This underlines the fact that the GBA has/is leaving no stone unturned relating to his development in the sport.” Should Allicock have let this matter pass through the proper internal channels, before resorting to the platform of social media?
GOA President K A Juman-Yassin told this newspaper that he was awaiting the manager’s report on the incident but hinted that partial blame had to be laid on boxing coach Terrence Poole and Allicock. “The coach, who is a professional and has years of experience, should have been aware of any potential danger if he fasted too long or did not have any liquids because it seemed to me he was dehydrated from lack of food and fluids,” observed Juman-Yassin. He added that the fact that Allicock had to reduce his weight was solely for his coach and himself to determine.
While one empathises with Allicock over the medical ordeal he endured in Paraguay, there are questions which need to be answered. Allicock represented Guyana at the Tokyo Olympics, following a period of specialised training in Russia, and at the Commonwealth Games twice; in fact, he was one of our flag bearers last August at the Birmingham Games. He has been the beneficiary of all manner of specialised training and worn our colours all over the globe at various international tournaments, so it was very disappointing to read of his lackadaisical approach to training and his extremely poor attendance record, and his previous suspensions in relation to such actions, including as recently as February this year, prior to the American Boxing Confederation Elite Championships held in Ecuador in March. In an interview with this publication after the announcement Allicock claimed that he was injured. Why was Allicock selected for the SAG when he was obviously not properly prepared? Anything less than 100 percent attendance at training is wholly unacceptable. One can appreciate that a boxer may not be able to skip, or spar, or punch the heavy bag every day, but there are other aspects of the discipline to be garnered from attendance, such as picking the brain of the specially hired Cuban coach Francisco Roldan and the study of boxing film. Did Allicock use social media to generate sympathy for his medical scare to deflect from his shortcomings in failing to make weight? Has the time come for Allicock to step up to another weight class?
This fiasco has shed a lot of light on several areas of our sporting environment, which should be cause for great concern.
