… team finish third despite being shorthanded

THE team of boxers that competed at the (CBC) championships returned home on Monday evening.

The tournament, which was held in St Lucia, saw Guyana capture three gold medals and a silver. Keevin Allicock, the Youth Commonwealth Games silver medallist, captured gold in the Bantamweight category, with Middleweight Desmond Amsterdam and Colin ‘Superman’ Lewis also capturing gold.

Joel ‘Stone’ Williamson was the lone silver medallist.
“First of all I want to thank God for me coming out victorious; it was a wonderful experience going to the championships. I saw a lot of great fighters, a lot of different styles. It was a wonderful experience,” said Allicock.

The GBA had encountered some difficulties in securing funds to send a full complement of fighters, and according to Allicock, had Guyana been able to send more fighters, they would have been able to retain the overall title they held for the past two years.

The boxers were greeted by Guyana’s lone Olympic medallist Michael Parris and president of the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA). The four Guyanese fighters who excelled at this year’s Caribbean Boxing Championship, Grenada, won the CBC title, having dominated most of the categories.

The Spice Isle won 18 medals, followed by Barbados, while Guyana, despite being shorthanded, finished third overall, followed by hosts St Lucia who managed to finish fourth.

President of the GBA, Steve Ninvalle, lauded the team’s achievement, but said he was still disappointed at not being able to see Guyana hold on to the title they had since the inception of the tournament in 2015.