THE Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) has been lauded for its historic decision to financially remunerate the respective gold, silver, and bronze medallists in the Elite Division of the recently concluded Terrence Ali National Open, which returned with aplomb after a two-year absence.

The aforesaid praise emanated from the duo of notable local pugilists, ‘Dynamite’ Dexter Amsterdam and Colin Lewis, who secured respective gold medals in the Light-heavyweight, and Welterweight divisions respectively, as well as experienced coach Seibert Blake of the Forgotten Youth Foundation.

Amsterdam, who is the highest-ranked local International Boxing Association (IBA) pugilist at number 23, defeated Quincie Boyce en route to this accolade at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue.

The Guyana Defence Force (GDF) standout, who is also an Americas Boxing Confederation (AMBC) Championship, and South American Games bronze medallist, said, “It is a good gesture of the association to award the boxers with monetary assistance. And I’m very much elated and I commend the association for such initiative.”

He further said, “The payout I think should be a continuous thing because it will bring a lot of younger boxers on show, and from the president, I think he did a great move there. I appreciate it and I will continue to work hard in my amateur career to make my dream come true.”

Echoing similar sentiments was Lewis, also of the GDF and who was draped in gold following his victory over Mark Crawford in the Welterweight final.

According to Lewis, the decision by the association to financially reward pugilists will stimulate and foster increased participation in the discipline, noting that he is delighted that the novel commitment, which was discussed prior, has come to fruition, as it will also encourage competitors to strive for greatness in their respective weight class

He pointed out, “For me, personally, it’s a big move for the boxer because it will encourage more boxers to participate and once the boxers have seen that they will be rewarded even if they have not won the first place prize, they will work to be at the top just to be rewarded and I’m glad too because it was in the making and it finally come through.”

Lewis further stated that the decision can be viewed as an initiative in helping to build athletes.

By the same token, Blake said, “On a scale of 1-10, I would give it a 9 because we had some quality local fighters and two Surinamese which lifted the event. Even though the Surinamese lost, it elevated the game of boxers who had to work hard, and compete.”

According to Blake, the participation of notable local campaigners, inclusive of Dexter Amsterdam, Colin Lewis, and Keevin Allicock, forced the younger participants to elevate their game to contend, adding, “We had a lot of transitioning and many young fighters reached the final, and had to compete against more seasoned folks.

Though they would have lost those matches, the senior fighters had to work and didn’t have it easy as the younger fighters showed their quality.”

Blake further praised the initiative of the GBA to financially reward the top three finishers, adding, “Everyone wanted to win, it certainly had an input into the zeal of the fighters to get to the top. It was a very good idea.”

The GBA, in a move to further incentivise and develop the discipline, enacted the decision to financially compensate the top three finishers (gold, silver, and bronze) within each weight class of the Elite Division, which is the crème de crème of the local amateur circuit.

The decision was inspired by the historic move by the IBA to increase the prize pool by a mammoth 50% for the 2023 World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from May 1 to 14.

Meanwhile, Terrence Poole, Technical Director of the GBA, declared, “The tournament was of a very high standard; a lot of boxers from the junior stage would have graduated to the elite level. They would have entered the competition with a lot of experience and exposure and that raised the quality of the boxing standard.”

Poole asserted that the decision to financially remunerate the fighters definitely played a pivotal role in elevating the quality of the event, adding, “Globally financial incentives are being offered and we decided to follow the trend and it definitely motivated the boxers, who, instead of just a medal, were financially compensated.

“Everyone was looking forward to it and it came in at the right time, and was very encouraging both in the general sense of the tournament and the boxers individually.”