THE Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) stated on Monday, that they had gotten the ‘go ahead’ to bring Cuba-based Colin Lewis, Dennis Thomas, Desmond Amsterdam and Keevin Allicock back to Guyana.

This information, according to Steve Ninvalle, president of the GBA, was given during an informal discussion with the Director of Sport Christopher Jones.
To date GBA, according to a release, is yet to receive an official correspondence from Guyana’s COVID-19 Task Force, with regard to their two-week old request.

“We are happy with the news that we’ve received; though it’s unofficial. We will expect what the Director of Sport tells us is something that we would have gotten from the horse’s mouth. Of course we would have loved to have an official response from the COVID-19 Task Force. Nevertheless, we have commenced work in bringing these young ambassadors back,” Ninvalle told Chronicle Sport yesterday.

“This is now a national effort,” Ninvalle posited, adding that “these guys went out there not to represent themselves but actually to do good for Guyana. We at GBA) will leave no stones unturned until we get them back home.”
Ninvalle highlighted that GBA had also written to the Guyana Olympic Association (GOA) and the National Sports Commission (NSC) – the two bodies that formed an alliance to financially support the boxers’ trip to Cuba – to render assistance in returning the four boxers to Guyana.

The amateur pugilists, Ninvalle related, are mentally-drained, given the fact that it has been 68 days since their originally scheduled return date was disrupted by the closure of the country’s borders and airports, for commercial travel, when the Government of Guyana took stringent measures to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

Three of the four are breadwinners for their families, and Ninvalle reasoned that the unintentional and extended absence from their homes has had a negative economic impact for their respective families.

The aforementioned boxers, along with Canada-based Taveena Kum, were in preparation mode to compete at the March 26 – April 4 Americas Boxing Confederation (AMBC) Americas Olympic Qualifier, but the GBA was left counting their losses in the millions, after the Argentina government had restricted international events in the country with immediate effect.

Since their unforeseen extended stay on the Spanish-speaking island the boxers are in care of the Government of Guyana with assistance from the Guyana Consulate in Cuba.