By Michaelangelo Jacobus
The Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) is set to ring off the 2025 boxing season and bring the 2024 calendar to a close with the Terrence Ali National Open Championship.
The tournament will take place from Friday (January 17) to Sunday (January 19) at the National Gymnasium on Mandela Avenue.
Originally scheduled for December 12, 2024, the championship was postponed and is now expected to feature fierce competition among top boxing gyms across the nation. Participants will include representatives from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), the Guyana Police Force, Young Achievers, Pace and Power, Forgotten Youth Foundation, Rose Hall, Andrew Lewis Gym, Pocket Rocket, New Amsterdam Academy, Vergenoegen, and Republicans.
Among the standout competitors taking to the ring are world-rated pugilists Desmond Amsterdam, Abiola Jackman, and Colin Lewis, promising an intense and high-calibre showcase of talent.
The tournament holds special significance as it marks the first major championship under the GBA’s banner since the untimely passing of its long-serving technical director, Terrence Poole, on October 3, 2024. Poole, who also served as head trainer for the GDF team, was a pivotal figure in their dominance on the local boxing circuit. His absence will undoubtedly be a major talking point as the GDF seeks to maintain its supremacy without their influential leader.
Speaking ahead of the championship, GBA President Steve Ninvalle highlighted the event’s importance.
“As the most important local event in our discipline, the Terrence Ali National Open Championship has the distinct honour of serving as the conclusion of the 2024 season and the beginning of the 2025 calendar of activities. The championship has historically functioned as a link or conduit between amateur and professional competitions, and its significance has appropriately increased with each iteration, given that it showcases the best of Guyana and provides an insight into our current and near future in the amateur or potential professional ranks.”
Reflecting on Poole’s legacy, Ninvalle added: “In light of coach Terrence Poole’s recent death in October 2024, one of the main topics that will be covered and examined during the tournament is whether GDF can continue to dominate. Although everyone has experienced loss, boxing is a competitive sport where losing a coach can be especially distressing. Unlike team sports, where established roles offer a structure for continuity, boxing is often based on the intensely intimate and frequently complex bond between a trainer and his fighters. In addition to being a strategist, the coach serves as a confidante, mentor, source of inspiration, and objective critical eye.”
Ninvalle also emphasized Poole’s crucial role in the GDF’s success: “Unquestionably, behind the success of every champion or successful pugilist is a dedicated team, and the coach is the central figure of that group and, in this case, the person who engineered their success. Terrence Poole has guided the GDF team to the top in his time. We will have to see how the current champions carry on from here.”
The championship is scheduled to begin at 7PM each evening, with the official weigh-in set to take place tomorrow, Thursday, at the National Gymnasium.