GBA starts 2019 with the Patrick Ford Memorial on Feb 17

Jan 17, 2019 Sports

The Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) has collaborated with Alford McDonald to stage the Patrick Ford memorial tournament on February 17 at the National Gymnasium.

Alford McDonald

In what is anticipated be an exciting night of fistic fury, the tournament will be kick start GBA’s International Events for 2019 and the Card, which will have 15 bouts, is scheduled to commence at 19:00hrs.
Forde, who died at age 55 in Brooklyn, New York in 2011, fought Salvador Sanchez for the WBC featherweight championship of the world in 1980 and was the first Guyanese to fight for a world title before he fought his last professionalbout in 1987.
This is the second year that this tournament will be held and last year the inaugural event included three Countries; Guyana, Suriname and St Lucia with the host Nation emerging as Champions.
According to GBA President Steve Ninvalle this year’s Tournament will see pugilist from Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago, St Lucia and Suriname matching gloves as they vie for Championship honours.
“We expect to have all the pivotal divisions at this time; Middleweight, Bantamweight, lightweight, Welterweight, Junior Welterweight and light Heavyweight.
Those are the divisions that we would have done quite well at in the Caribbean Championship and we are trying to push and ensure these guys get some much needed competition leading up to Pan Am,” Ninvalle added.

GBA President Steve Ninvalle with the 2018 CBC Champions Guyana.

The Patrick Ford Memorial Tournament comes on the heels of the Mike Parris U-16 Championships informed Ninvalle, who noted that the need for more work to be done with the juniors was one of the challenges faced by the GBA in 2018.
The Andrew ‘Six Heads’ Lewis annual National Novices, the Lennox Blackmore National Intermediate and the Terrence Ali National Boxing Championships are also scheduled for a packed calendar of local Boxing in 2019.
The GBA has plans to honour 1978 Commonwealth Gold Medallist Winfield Braithwaite.
“Braithwaite won a Gold Medal at the Commonwealth Games and did well for Guyana in Amateur Boxing and we are looking to honour him for what he did for Amateur Boxing,” said Ninvalle
The GBA head has applied to AIBA for the Caribbean Championship to be made a qualifier for the Pan Am Games and anticipates a positive word early in this year. (Sean Devers)