The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net Future Olympians and world-class boxers are expected to showcase their talent this weekend as Champion Amateur Boxing Club gets ready to host its 16th annual Ray Minus Sr End of the Year Boxing Show. Set to start 5pm Friday at the Wulff Road Youth Development Boxing Center, the show will feature two nights of intense boxing - the second is scheduled to begin 6pm Saturday at the Nassau Stadium, Fowler Street. "We are basically trying to accomplish a focus of purpose, which is to gear them towards the 2016 Olympic Games," said Minus Jr of the tournament. "That was why we named it the Olympic Movement because we want those boxers to start preparing in their minds and preparing physically for the 2016 Olympics because these same boys around the age of 15, 16 and 17 years old, they will have the experience under their belts to qualify for the Bahamas team." Minus Jr said it gives hope to these youngsters in that they have boxers such as Taureano 'Reno' Johnson, Valentino Knowles and Carl Hield, all of whom came out of this same programme and have excelled on the international scene. "We know that we can produce Olympic prospects because we have already done it," said Minus Jr of Johnson, who competed in the 2008 Olympics. "We feel like we can continue to keep these young men focused on the Olympics and give them the hope to achieve that goal of getting to the Olympics. Once they have the talent, we want to give them the opportunity." During the show this weekend, Tyrone Oliver and Richard Charlton are slated to compete in Friday's main event. The winner will face Lester Brown for the bantamweight title in the main event on Saturday. Other boxing matches include Javano Collins vs. Keiron Knowles, Aprecio Davis vs. Garvin Rolle and CH Reeves boxing team vs. LW Young boxing team in a challenge match. "These boxers are just about 15 years old, but they all have a lot of fights under their belt, so these two matches are going to be very exciting," Minus Jr said. "And we are very pleased to have the two schools coming together and competing against each other. I think they will only enhance the programme because we will have a lot more boxers to look at." At the end of the two-day show, Champion Boxing Club will present awards to the most improved boxer, the most outstanding boxer, the best fight of the event, the Ray Minus Sr trophy and the Boxer of the Year. "We are very excited about what has transpired this year and we look forward to the boxers who are eligible for the awards," Minus Jr said. "We don't know who will win them yet, but we know that the list is going to be a very interesting one." Minus Jr encouraged the general public to come out and support the boxers on a quest to begin their trek to the 2016 Olympic Games to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.