CAYMAN Islands became the first country to officially register for next month’s Winfield Braithwaite Caribbean Schoolboys and Junior boxing tournament after putting forward a team of one boxer and two officials.
Sixteen-year-old light middleweight Alec Lopez will represent the Islands. Yolande Lopez is the manager of the team while Trinidadian national Floyd Trumpet is the coach.

President of the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) Steve Ninvalle yesterday applauded the early action of the Cayman Islands team while adding that in the fifth edition of the annual tournament it is expected that the largest number of countries will be participating.

“We have given July 19 as our cut-off date for registration. I have been assured by Trinidad and Tobago, Suriname, The Bahamas, St Lucia, Barbados, Jamaica and Grenada that they will be sending teams. It is heartening news since we are all coming out of COVID-19 and need such competition,” Ninvalle said.

The GBA has heightened chances of retaining the Champion Country title after flying in respected and qualified Cuban coach Francisco Roldan. The Cuban will take over training of Guyana’s nursery leading up to the tournament.

According to Ninvalle, GBA has been staging two Under-16 tournaments per month since January in order to be fully prepared for the overseas invasion. “The last of these competitions is scheduled for July 17 at the National Gymnasium. This will be followed by the selection of a national squad which Mr Roldan will be in charge of,” the GBA boss added.

Encampment is scheduled for two weeks before the tournament which is scheduled for August 19-21, at Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
Formerly known as the Caribbean Schoolboys and Juniors, the tournament is the brainchild of Ninvalle and was first held in 2016. Guyana hosted the event ever since and won Champion Country on all occasions.