Silver medallist and light-weight contender Herve Charlemagne is among a group of young and upcoming boxers to feature in the National Box-Off organised by the St Lucia Boxing Association (SLBA) today, at the Vigie Boxing Gym in Castries, as competitive boxing resumes.
More than 30 young male and female boxers from the Hands in Gloves Development Boxing Programme will be entering the squared circle to impress the judges and coaches. Boxers to be featured on the day will come from gyms in the north and south of the island.
Charlemagne, who picked up a silver medal on debut at the 5th Annual Winfield Braithwaite Caribbean Schoolboys & Junior Boxing Tournament held in Guyana last August, will look to impress as he prepares for other upcoming contests.
The National Box-Offs are usually held by the local boxing association to assess boxers from the various programmes for upcoming tournaments hosted locally, regionally and internationally.
For this year, boxers will represent the island at various events , including the Patrick Forde Memorial Tournament in Guyana in February, the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in India in March, Caribbean Champion of Champions Tournament in Saint Lucia in April, and the IBA Men’s World Boxing Championships in Uzbekistan in May.
Conrad Fredericks, National Head Boxing Coach, said the event promises to be hectic and very competitive.
“We’re hoping for a successful event whereby our boxers will showcase what they would have learned over the past year or so,” Fredericks said. “Preparation for the Box-Off has been going on for the past few weeks, so the boxers are ready to put on a great show,” he added.
Saturday’s Box-Off starts at 1:00 p.m. and is a free event open to the public. Registration for new membership at the gym will also be done on the day.
Sponsors for this Saturday’s Box-Off include Button Up and S&K Manufacturing Ltd.