The Surinamese six-member fight roster arrived on local shores yesterday to participate in the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) Developmental Championship that commenced Wednesday evening at the National Gymnasium, Mandela Avenue.
The team that arrived overland comprised two amateur fighters and four elite-level combatants. They are Donn Sadhoe (lightweight), Valentino Artist (bantamweight), Tony Lin (welterweight), Richard Everd (heavyweight), Domelzo Schet (middleweight), and Leandro Dongo (super heavyweight).
They are expected to face a sizable challenge in the form of representatives from notable gyms such as the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Defence Force, the Forgotten Youth Foundation, Pace and Power, and Rose Hall Town Jammers.
The other categories contested during the tournament are schoolboys, juniors, youths, and women.
GBA Technical Director Terrence Poole supervises the programme.
Meanwhile, GBA President Steve Ninvalle said, “The arrival of the Surinamese delegation underscores the importance and significance that this novel initiative has garnered. The programme, which was born as an attempt to fill an established competitive void, has developed into a mutually beneficial platform, which is evident by our Dutch-speaking neighbours’ participation.
According to Ninvalle, “Guyana has dominated the English-speaking Caribbean in this discipline, a fact that is not lost on other nations that have opted in the recent past to utilise our shores as a home base for their training cycle and regimen.
Though infant in its application, this initiative adds to that regional awareness and structure that will benefit all sundry and gives further credence to the development that has enveloped and transpired in amateur boxing, which has now undertaken an international persuasion.”
He said, “The arrival of foreign talents on local soil is always a blessing, as it provides international competition for our emerging fighters. No longer is local boxing devoid of international competition. What the professional realm has struggled to achieve consistently, the amateur arm of boxing has filled the void with aplomb.”
The competition concludes on Thursday evening.
