THE Guyana boxing team to the Pan Am Qualifier was scheduled to punch into action last night in Tijuana, Mexico. Bantamweight Delon Charles was down to fight Tafari Ebanks of the Cayman Islands while lightweight 18-year-old Dewani Lampkin was set to take on Kevin Luna of Guatemala at 18:00hrs (21:00hrts GT).Today junior welterweight Jason Phillips takes on Nelson Diaz of Nicaragua while the most experienced member of the team middleweight Dennis Thomas will face Trinidadian Aaron Prince. Manager/Coach Sebert Blake said that all members of the team came in well below their respective division weight limit.
He noted that Guyana and Dominica arrived in Tijuana the earliest and it had paid dividends as the boxers had time to acclimatise. Team Guyana arrived in Mexico last Saturday.
Thirty-one countries are attending the Qualifier which has 177 boxers competing. The English-speaking Caribbean is represented by 11 countries and 30 boxers. Trinidad and Tobago has carried eight boxers while Guyana is in second place with four. Bahamas, Barbados and Jamaica each sent three athletes while Belize, St Lucia and the US Virgin Islands provided two each.
Cayman Islands, Dominica and Grenada are each being represented by one fighter. The competition concludes on Tuesday.