Four gold, 1 silver for T&T at OECS Boxing Championships

Senior Multimedia Reporter

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T&T’s young boxers claimed four gold medals and a silver on day two of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Boxing Championships in St. Lucia on Saturday night.

And with another four boxers set to enter the ring last night on another day of finals, coaches Alric Johnson and Ralph Peterkin are hoping to surpass the team’s medal tally last year, to over 10 medals.

Only a day after Abdul Taylor cruised into the final of the Elite 60kg contest against St. Lucian Donaii Cooman, which was scheduled to be contested last night, came gold medal performances from Med Charles in the youth 69-72kg final, Darnel Sinaswee in the youth 63-66kg final, Kozo Martin in the junior 62-65kg final, and Jeremiah Thomas in the light-heavyweight class.

Osei Al Sadiq, in his first-ever bout for T&T both locally and internationally, was stopped in the second round of the youth 57-60 kg bout. Despite the loss, he earned the silver medal.

Johnson said he was pleased with the overall performances of his charges, saying they have shown the ability to be top fighters in the world.

“Al Sadiq gave a brave performance, although he went up against a fighter with a lot more experience than he. I think his opponent used his experience to telling effect, as Al Sadiq got weary and could not cope in the latter part of the second round. We applaud the fight he put up in the encounter, though,” Johnson said.

Charles, facing the hometown favourite Orlando Monrose of St. Lucia, sealed the win by a unanimous decision before Sinaswee entered the ring to hand T&T its second gold medal of the championships at the expense of another St. Lucian fighter, Denzel Stephen, by another unanimous decision.

Later, the pair of Martin and Thomas took the T&T tally to four gold medals with victories over Devon Serieux (St. Lucia) and Oshara Toussaint of Antigua, respectively. Martin stopped his opponent in the second round, while Thomas’ triumph came via a unanimous decision.

Johnson told the media that the results of the young boxers came due to hard work and a desire to win.

T&T claimed the top spot in the 2024 edition of the championships, ahead of Guyana with 33 points, which comprised 10 gold medals and two silver medals.

The Guyanese took the runner-up position with a distant 14 points behind (four gold medals and two silver medals), with Barbados’ 13 points coming from three gold medals and two silver medals, earning them the third position overall.

Last night, three other fighters took to the ring in search of podium finishes, namely Donnell Phillip in the Elite-Male, 55-60 kg, Jadeon Castillano in the Elite-Male, 65-70 kg, and Taylor.