Team Guyana’s nine boxers finished with six gold medals, two silver and a bronze when the curtain came down on the Caribbean Champion-of-Champions two-night event in St Lucia Saturday night. According to one of the coaches of the sojourn, IBA Three Star, Sebert Blake, the medal haul following the fixture at the Vigie Sports Complex in Castries, enabled the local outfit to finish second on the medal table to the hosts.
The ‘Nuff Cuff’ event attracted pugilists from Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Guadeloupe and St Lucia.
Blake told this publication yesterday that Tofina Barker (junior 54-57kg), Alesha Jackman (elite 60-63kg), Kevon Harris (elite 80-86kg), Emmanuel Pompey (elite 86-92kg), Tiquan Sampson (junior 57-60kg) and Shakquain James (youth 63.5-67kg) were the boxers who finished atop the podium for Guyana.
Jamal Eastman (elite 60-63.5kg) and Quincy Boyce (elite 75-80kg) earned the silver medals while Brian Harris (elite 71-75kg) ended with the bronze medal. Clifton Moore and Clifton Barker were the two other coaches for Team Guyana.
Said Blake, “We had a great tournament and I am satisfied with their performances and I know we will only get better in future tournaments of this nature. I think it was a great tournament for Guyana and a great showing and exposure for the young boxers.”
Blake added, “I was looking for nine gold medals, but some decisions went against us especially the Jamal Eastman fight, I think he won that fight hands down, but the judges’ decision is final and we accept and we move on.”
Meanwhile, in an invited comment, President of the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA), Steve Ninvalle stated that he was “happy with how the team performed” and that “the youngsters did us very proud.”
Ninvalle further revealed that he received congratulatory messages from the Presidents of the St Lucia and Barbados associations, David Christopher and Dr Melissa Brandford-Jones on the “quality of athletes that we sent to the tournament.”
“They represented Guyana at an elite level and this is something that we will continue once we have the resources,” Ninvalle promised. The team was scheduled to return home last evening.
