Sports

Guadeloupe Coach Seriously Injured After Smashing Window

Image of damaged window. (PHOTO: Anthony De Beauville)

FRUSTRATION and unsportsman-like behaviour showed their ugly heads on the final night of competition at the ninth annual Creole Boxing Championship held at the Beausejour Indoor Practice Facility which Saint Lucia won with 2 gold, 13 silver and 1 bronze medals.

Image of damaged window. (PHOTO: Anthony De Beauville)
Damaged window. (PHOTO: Anthony De Beauville)

The unfortunate incident occurred outside the ring after a boxer from Guadeloupe was defeated in the lightweight category (56-60 kg) final.

This picture taken by The VOICE shows a glass window in the players’ dressing room smashed following the defeat of Keshan Jacoby-Koaly (Guadeloupe) by JabaliBreedy (Barbados) in a split decision.

The VOICE spoke to a member of the medical team present, who confirmed that a member of the Guadeloupe coaching staff was taken to Victoria Hospital for treatment after he seriously injured his hand and was bleeding profusely after smashing the glass window.

Following the decision by the ring announcer, the Guadeloupe technical team felt their boxer had won the fight but the judges for that encounter saw the fight differently.

At that point, the Guadeloupe technical team made their way towards the official table and questioned the judges’ decision as to why Koaly didn’t win, halting the night’s proceedings for a few minutes.

The Guadeloupians had lost two bouts to split decisions the night before. In the lightweight class (56-60 kg), Pierre Laborde went down to MedhyVenance (Barbados) while in the welterweight (64-69 kg), Jean Phillipe-Erin lost to Jamal Edmund (Barbados).

Immediately following the fracas, the Guadeloupe technical team pulled their boxers from the championship, leaving Keithland King of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to win over Alexandre Moyston on a walk-over decision in the middleweight category (69-75 kg).

It remains unclear whether any disciplinary action will be taken or a fine imposed on the Guadeloupe technical staff by the Caribbean Boxing Association for the manner in which they approached the officials at the head table and also for vandalizing a sporting facility as the Creole Boxing Championship was a sanctioned event under world governing body, AIBA.

Saint Lucia is scheduled to host the Caribbean Boxing Championship in December, its third major championship for 2017 and Guadeloupe will likely be one of the 29 participating teams in that event.

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