Latest update July 22nd, 2026 12:47 AM
Mar 26, 2014 Sports
The executive body of the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) has intensified its efforts to expose local pugilists to as much international competitions as possible to maximize their chances of procuring lucrative international accolades and subsequently, that coveted Olympics gold medal.
As such, close on the heels of the locally staged Tri-Nation Goodwill tournament in February and a similar venture in Barbados early this month, the GBA will field a three man team to compete against a strong squad out of St Lucia in a three nights Goodwill tournament from March 28-30 next.
Those selected for national duties are Ron Smith (69kgs), Bert Braithwaite (64kgs) and Delon Charles (56kgs). Dennis Thomas (75kgs), Eon Bancroft (69kgs) and Theresa London (75kgs) were initially shortlisted to be a part of the squad but have all been side-lined for differing reasons.
London was deemed ineligible after she was stopped in her last international outing, the South American Games, and will have to conform to a three months rest from competitions while Thomas has been cited for indiscipline while participating at the very games and is slated to appear before a disciplinary committee soon.
Bancroft’s performance over the past few months have also come into question and President of the GBA, Steve Ninvalle said that his patience is running thin in relation to the poor returns of some of the boxers, thus his omission.
He said that Bancroft has had a long run in Cuba at the Macedo Cardova championships, the Tri Nation Caribbean championship and quite recently, the tournament in Chile. A visibly upset Ninvalle said that he could no longer tolerate the below par performances of some of the boxers. He said that he is tempted to place heavy concentration on the nursery project since the elite boxers are either incapable or unwilling to deliver the goods. “We are investing heavily in these boxers and they don’t seem to understand that when they under-perform it makes our job of procuring sponsorship for them very challenging so I think that the time is right to employ stiff measures and criteria as a prerequisite to their selection at international games,” Ninvalle declared.
The team participating in the St Lucia tournament leaves Guyana tomorrow morning and will get into action one
night later.
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