THE Guyana Amateur Boxing Association (GABA) is now better equipped to assist in the development of local fighters, following yesterday’s return of coach Clifton Moore from an intense and high profile coaching course in Mexico. Moore was part of 42 coaches from around the world, and the lone Guyanese to participate in the one-week Pan American Sports Organisation (PASO) course.

“I am happy to inform you that Mr Moore was successful in Mexico and is now more equipped to execute his duties as a coach in Guyana,” president of GABA, Steve Ninvalle, said. “We congratulate him on passing all his exams and being the disciplined and committed coach he is.”
Moore is head coach at the Essequibo Boxing Gym which has produced several of Guyana’s top Under-16 boxers and his participation in Mexico was made possible through the Guyana Olympic Association.
The PASO course is held every four years and in the past Guyana has been represented by Lennox Daniels and Sebert Blake. Ninvalle reiterated that boxing can surely benefit from such programmes and pointed out that in the past year there had been an upward swing in the international certification of local coaches.
“It is important to keep upgrading our coaches. They play a pivotal role in the growth and progress of our boxers,” Ninvalle declared. The GABA boss recapped that last October, Technical and Tournament Director Terrence Poole travelled to Kazakhstan to create history by being certified as Guyana’s first AIBA Three Star coach.
The certification makes Poole one of a handful of Three Star coaches in the English-speaking Caribbean, and allows him to officiate at all AIBA-sanctioned tournaments. During the same period under review, Sebert Blake attended a three-month course in Hungary where he topped the class at the Semmelweis University.
Blake returned home with a diploma in Sports Science and Boxing Specifics, and followed up last month by attending AIBA Professional Boxing (APB) and World Series Boxing (WSB) courses in Havana, Cuba.
Ninvalle noted that GABA has also been working closely with the GOA to tap into Olympic Solidarity programmes.