1 year ago
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JAMAICA WILL have no boxing representative at the upcoming Paris Olympics, after hopes went up in flames following defeats to Sanji Williams and Tevoy Barrett at the final global qualifier in Bangkok, Thailand last week.
Speaking with The Sunday Gleaner, Leroy Brown, general secretary of Jamaica Boxing Association, said no Jamaicans being at the Olympics leaves a sour taste in the mouth.
“It’s always disappointing when your athletes don’t get to the Games. In amateur boxing, the ultimate stage is the Olympic Games, and this is what every boxer wants. When you get to that stage, you then use it to propel you to the professional ranks,” said Brown.
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Jamaica had a lone representative in Ricardo Brown, who fought in the Super Heavyweight division. Brown’s presence at Tokyo broke a 24-year-old trend as, prior to that, Jamaica was last represented by the trio of Tyson Gray (featherweight), Sean Black (light middleweight) and Rowan Donaldson (middleweight), at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
According to Brown, Jamaica should copy the style of countries such as Cuba and Kazakhstan who, despite being an ever-present staple at the Olympics, start their preparation for an Olympic game immediately after one cycle finishes.
“They always say you should prepare for the next Olympics at the end of the current Olympic cycle that you’re dealing with. Therefore, we have to start preparing for the 2028 Olympics immediately, and what has to be done is that we have to look and see what we have and then nurture it. Cuba and the United States’ preparation starts immediately, and these are countries that will have representations, as well as countries such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan,” he explained.
The veteran boxing administrator suggested that regular competitive competition for the country’s elite boxers could possibly stem some of the problems. He added that the Gloves over Guns boxing tournament could be used as a breeding ground to develop future world beaters.
“We need to have a cadre of boxers who are constantly in training. We’ve been pushing the Gloves over Guns programme, which is grassroots, and what we need to do is to get boxers, who you harness throughout the year, have constant competition. This is one of the areas that we’re lacking at the moment, and that’s the only area in which you can grow,” said Brown.
Brown further suggested that getting local boxers exposure on the Caribbean and South American market would also augur well for their development.
“We should also look at opportunities to send our boxers overseas in the Caribbean, and nearby areas such as Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela.”
English (US) ·