‘Back to the Future’ Inter-Caribbean Boxing championships… Officials fine tuning arrangements for highly anticipated slugfests

Oct 04, 2015 Sports

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By Michael Benjamin

October is here and already the officials of the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) are collaborating with their colleagues of the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) to put the modalities in place for the Inter-Caribbean Boxing tournament, dubbed ‘Back to the Future,’ and scheduled for November 26-29 at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH).
Already, 9 countries have indicated that they will be sending teams to the championship and President of the GBA, Steve Ninvalle, is very upbeat about its success. He feels that the impending championship will test the local pugilist to the hilt, while informing their coaches as well as GBA administrators if they are made of stern stuff.
Mr. Ninvalle reminisced on the exchange programmes with Cuba during the late seventies/ early eighties and said that administrators have so dubbed the impending tournament to relive the memories of yesteryear when local boxers matched skills with the best in the Caribbean and Latin America.
Invitations have been dispatched to more than 14 countries and already 9 of them have affirmed their participation. They include Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Jamaica, Bahamas, St Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, French Guiana and Martinique. Those countries still to confirm their participation are Venezuela, Belize, Aruba, US Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands. Mr. Ninvalle is confident of positive responses from the remaining countries.
Plans for the tournament were unveiled one week ago when Mr. Ninvalle joined with President of the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA), K A Juman Yassin, for a press conference at the Parade Street, Kingston headquarters of the GOA. Here it was revealed that the total expenditure will surpass six million dollars and the GOA would be contributing a large sum to offset the cost.
Meanwhile, President of the St Lucia Amateur Boxing Association (SLABA), David ‘Shakes’ Christopher has already identified a tough bunch of boxers to represent the Island. He said that he is aiming for many gold medals and as such, will be fielding a strong team to the championships. The St Lucian entourage will be led Lyndel Marcellin, a senior Elite boxer in the 69 kg category. Marcellin will best be remembered for his epic battles with Bert Braithwaite; they fought once in Guyana and thrice in St Lucia about two years ago. Braithwaite had won the Guyana bout but despite strong and determined performances on the return leg of the tournament in St Lucia, he lost out. Braithwaite has since taken a hiatus from the sport and it would be interesting to see which of the Guyanese pugilists will step up to the plate.
The other members of the St Lucia entourage are Arthur Langelier (75 kg – Elite senior boxer), another top boxer that has made his mark in Guyana and further afield, Travis Maynard (56 kg – Elite senior boxer), Heslie Joseph (60 kg – Elite senior boxer), Nathan Ferrari (64kg – Novice boxer) and Merlanda St Clair (75kg female boxer). St Clair was billed to fight Theresa London in St Lucia but the Guyanese was unable to travel for the fight. Subsequently, they were matched in the tri-nation tournament in Guyana and the Guyanese prevailed. London has since taken a sabbatical from the sport and it is not yet clear which local female will fill the void.
The St Lucian entourage will also consist of coaches, Conrad Fredericks and Jorge Gonzalez Dominguez, while Brian Mc Donald will manage the team with Mr. Christopher being the Head of Delegation.
French Guiana has also confirmed its participation and local boxers will do well to remember their fistic combats when the (local) team visited that French country last year. Leonardo Mosquea and Kesney Joseph are the ones to watch; they were the two that had really caused problems in the Guyanese camp. Mosquea had had a raging battle with Thomas in Cayenne and the situation reached a head when the French pugilist had maliciously butted his opponent forcing the referee to disqualify him immediately. Mosquea will still be bristling and a fight between the two is bound to spark off animosity.
Several other boxers will also comprise the French delegation along with the officials including Rolland Robbeiri (President of Committee), Michel Manguer (General Secretary), with Guy Luce (assistant coach) completing the team.
Meanwhile, local boxers will be engaged in fistic action when the National Open Championships gets underway from October 23 and according to GBA officials, this tournament will be used as the criteria for selection to the Caribbean tournament. The boxers will soon be encamped and officials say that while they are thankful for the assistance rendered by the GOA, they would welcome other corporate assistance to offset the huge administrative costs. The teams will start arriving one day before the tournament commences.

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