GBBC to host WBC/CABOFE one day seminar today

HAVING seen the success story behind the monthly Friday Night Fights (FNF), president of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) Peter Abdool decided to go one step further, by empowering his referees and judges. Today from 09:00hrs at the Civil Defence Commission (CDC), referees and judges of the caliber of Trevor Arno, Andrew Thorne, Francis Abraham and Eon Jardine just to name a few, will undergo a one- day upgrading course which is being sponsored by the World Boxing Council (WBC) in collaboration with the Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE) and conducted by Toronto based Guyanese William Boodhoo.
“First of all, we have seen lots of substantial progress in Guyana with regards to the amount of fights and much more activity for our boxers and our officials, which are the perfect expression of the FNF, based on the level of activity that goes on with the cards.
The FNF has also created better records for some of the boxers, while we have seen fights coming out of Guyana, which  speak of the level of the competition, while at the same time it was meant to develop our ability to announce, commentate and film a fight properly,” said Abdool.
The WBC/CABOFE head added, “Another purpose of the FNF, was to expose our officials generally speaking, obviously by more experience and a greater level of activity to many more fights, meaning that their level should be up in comparison to the fighters and indeed that has happened.
Apart from that, what is actually happening is that CABOFE has been very active over the past two years, hosting close to 40 odd fights in Mexico, Jamaica and other parts of the Caribbean, while the WBC has been active as well, organizing cards in this part of the world.
In fact, last Friday night there were four WBC title fights taking place in Trinidad and Tobago, with Ria Ramnarine making an unsuccessful defence of her title while Nerissa Reece fought and lost out in her bid for a WBC Inter-Continental title, while there were two CABOFE title fights as well.”
According to Abdool, the import of foreign fighters would see the said pugilist looking for top quality officiating as they would wish to know that the officials of the bout are indeed neutral and not from the host country, who has the authority to appoint the respective officials.
“The WBC has very stringent regulations, when it comes to the referees and judges who fall under their jurisdiction, with their main aim being the safety of the boxers, along with the health of the officials, ensuring that at no time when an official walks into the ring, he is unable to execute his or her duties, while at the same time improving the level of the officials.”
According to Abdool, the GBBC is managed under the rules and guidelines of the WBC which he feels is the best in the boxing world at the moment, hence he saw it fit to have his officials be brought up to date.
“This seminar is being held to bring our officials up to date with expectations of them, including morals, who they suppose to socialise with, leading up to a fight which will enable them to remain out of controversy with the said fight, along with their medicals and food intake.
The main aim is to ensure the officials are not only physically healthy, but also emotionally healthy as well, so that they can effectively execute their duties for the respective bouts they are assigned to and to make things better. WBC’s President Dr. Jose Sulaiman produced a manual which taught referees how to concentrate during a three minute round,” stated Abdool.
According to the GBBC/CABOFE head, the actions of a referee in the ring guide the judges who are judging a fight.
“If a boxer slips to the canvas, the referee indicates same to the judges hence no point can be taken away from that boxer, but if he is knocked down, the judges gets the indication from the referee as he begins his count and automatically, a point is taken away from that boxer,” said Abdool.
Following the conclusion of today’s course, Abdool said he will be making recommendations to the WBC for the successful applicants to not only be recognized by one of the world’s governing body for the sport, but also be awarded fights to increase their experience in their respective field.
Added to that, he is looking to have boxers from Mexico, El Salvador, Columbia and even Jamaica come to these shores to participate in the GBBC’s FNF, but can only do so when the GBBC has under its management, WBC accredited and recognized officials.
Asked to comment further on the progress of the FNF, Abdool said that much more needs to be done, as he is looking to remind people that boxing is a premier sport in Guyana.
“I anticipate a better level of success for boxing in Guyana. At the moment, the FNF has a list of sponsors and in addition to them, beverage giants Banks DIH Limited has signaled their intentions in coming on board.
Having said that, I am disappointed that our amateur boxers, some of whom showcased their talent on the FNF, did not win more medals in the Pan Am Games, but according to head coach Terrence Poole, the FNF is producing growth for our amateur fighters.
On the professional side of things, we have fighters who are willing to pay their airfare and come back to Guyana, just to be a part of the FNF, while some boxers from Trinidad and Jamaica has signaled their intentions to be a part of the monthly card as well,” said Abdool.
He is of the opinion that boxing should be taken back to the schools, like other sports, while at the same time, gyms in various communities should be looking to take the sport to the villagers of the community, in order to ensure the sport is kept alive.
Abdool also has in the pipeline, the import of world class coaches to Guyana, to assist some of our coaches, especially those in the amateur ranks and welcomed the Ministry of Sport’s decision to have a Cuban coach conduct courses here in the not too distant future.
Having said all of that and more, Peter Abdool’s vision for boxing in the Land of Many Waters cannot be achieved without the help of corporate Guyana, hence he is calling for the support to achieve his dreams, which is to make Guyana the hallmark of boxing under the jurisdiction of the WBC/CABOFE, beginning with today’s seminar.

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