Resuscitation of Friday Night Fights in the pipeline

Sep 03, 2022 Sports

– GBA President

 By Zaheer Mohamed

President of the Guyana Boxing Assocaition (GBA), Steve Ninvalle, said the resuscitation of Friday Night Fights is high on the agenda of the Association as they look to expand the sport.

Speaking at an appreciation dinner for the recently successful Guyanese team at Hot and Spicy Restaurant, Ninvalle commended the boxers and manager, Seon Bristol, on their victory.

Guyana successfully defended their team title at Winfield Braithwaite Caribbean Schoolboys and Juniors Boxing Championship, which was held at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, last weekend.

In the four-team Championships, Guyana registered 23 points to easily take top honours in the fifth edition of the Championship.

The Bahamas placed second on nine points followed by Trinidad and Tobago with eight points and St Lucia on five points. Guyanese Jeremiah Duncan took the best Boxer award while others like Eon Bancroft and Emanuel Pompey contributed to Guyana’s unbeaten streak since the inauguration of the Championship.

Ninvalle said this tournament is the most important event for boxing in the Caribbean and he is extremely happy for what they have been able to achieve.

Ninvalle was excited at the overwhelming success and stated that next year, the tournament will expand.

“This tournament will become such a marquee tournament that we will have boxers not only from the Caribbean but further afield. We need to rub shoulders with our Latin American counterparts so we can have boxers compete at the international level,” Ninvalle posited.

He stated that the young boxers made the entire country proud with their performances. “We as a Country are able to achieve the pride that we all would have shared when our boxers represented us so well,” he added.

Ninvalle, who is also the Director of Sport, said for the first time an international competition was held here with local officials. “We should no longer be dependent on other countries and very soon we will have referees/judges going for their two stars,” he stated.

Ninvalle also added that Bristol has been a bed rock and contributed immensely towards the success of the tournament.

He indicated that the U16 programme will restart on September 16 and they are looking to expand across Guyana. “We are looking to take the tournament to Rose Hall and we want to make sure we have at least one international fight on the cards. This success shows what we can achieve when we work collectively,” he said.

Ninvalle added that the future of the sport is on a better footing than it was three years ago. “During my tenure as President I found many reasons to be happy and once I am at the helm Guyana would be a respected nation,” he related.

Guyana copped seven gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze.

Bristol lauded the coaches and mentors and congratulated the boxers. He said that he is looking forward to continuing his service to boxing.