SEVEN Saint Lucian boxers will compete at this year’s Winfield Braithwaite Caribbean Schoolboys and Juniors Boxing Tournament scheduled for August 18-20, 2023, in Georgetown, Guyana.
They are:
1. Joshua Rene — Super Heavyweight (92+ kgs.)
2. Jack Surage — Light Middleweight (63.5-67 kgs)
3. Denzel Stephen — Lightweight (57-60 kgs.)
4. Jeannan Gaspard — Heavyweight (86-92 kgs.)
5. Herve Charlemagne — Light Welterweight (60-63.5 kgs.)
6. John Didier — Light Heavyweight (75-80 kgs.)
7. Kyle Marcel — Middleweight (71-75 kgs.)
The boxers will be accompanied to Guyana by Coaches Yunior Quintero and Conrad Fredericks, and Saint Lucia Boxing Association’s Public Relations Officer Stan Bishop, who is the Team’s Manager.
The team left Saint Lucia Thursday, August 17, and returns on Monday, August 21.
The team’s participation in the tournament was made possible by the Saint Lucia National Lotteries Authority and the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports.
President of the Saint Lucia Boxing Association (SLBA), David “Shakes” Christopher, thanked the sponsors, noting that Saint Lucia’s strong representation at the tournament is the largest ever.
“The Boxing Association is very happy and grateful to the Ministry of Youth Development and Sports and the Saint Lucia National Lotteries Authority for assisting us in sending such a large team to the Caribbean Schoolboys and Juniors Boxing Tournament in Guyana,” Christopher said. “It’s the largest number of boxers that Saint Lucia has ever had at this annual tournament, and I wish them all the best.”
The boxers are from the schools boxing programme, and some of them won bouts earlier this year at the Caribbean Champion of Champions Boxing Tournament in April, and the OECS Invitational Boxing Championships: Revival in July, with Saint Lucia hosting and winning both tournaments. Christopher said the boxing association saw it fitting to give them the opportunity to glove up against their Caribbean counterparts at the Guyana tournament to help them get better competitively.
“Many of our former top boxers have competed in this tournament over the years, so we’re continuing to give our current boxers that exposure,” he said. “These young athletes could have been engaged in unfavourable activities; however, they chose to take up a sport, so we’ll continue to support them in becoming champions and better citizens.”
The Winfield Braithwaite Caribbean Schoolboys and Juniors Tournament is geared at the development and nurturing of the nursery of boxing across the Caribbean, and was first held in 2016. As the name outlines, the tournament is geared for boxers in the Schoolboys/Girls and Junior categories.