The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE three-member boxing team is heading off to Veracruz, Mexico, today where they hope to return from the XXII Cental American and Caribbean Games in two weeks with medals around their necks.

The team of Carl Hield, Rashield Williams and Godfrey Strachan are scheduled to leave town today with head coach Andre Seymour. They will be joined in Mexico by assistant coach Floyd ‘Pretty Boy’ Seymour. They will go through a light workout and the weigh-in before the draw is set on Thursday and the competition starts on Friday.

“All three boxers are in good shape and so I’m looking for a medal. We just want to get into the medal round and then take it one bout at a time,” Andre Seymour said.

“Our boxers are well trained and they are ready. The most important thing is for us to get into the medal round because we really want to come home with some medals. I’m looking for some good things from these guys.”

Seymour, however, admitted that the journey in Mexico won’t be an easy mission as they anticipate some keen competition from countries such as Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, Puerto Rico and Panama. But he indicated that based on how the boxers look coming out of their training camp, they are in pretty good shape and so they have high expectations for all of them.

Williams, 25, is making his debut at the CAC Games. But after his loss in the light welterweight division to Leroy Hindley of New Zealand at the Commonwealth Games in July in Glasgow, Scotland, Williams went back to the drawing board, spending a month in training with Floyd Seymour in Washington before he returned to Cuba to finish off his training with his team-mates.

“My training was good. It went very well. I did a lot of sparring in Washington and when I went to Cuba, I got in some more sparring,” Williams said. “So I’m more settled and relaxed and I’m going there to push for the gold.”

Having had an opportunity to train with some world class competitors, Williams said he has learned a lot and he hopes to put it all into action when he steps in the ring.

“I had two different styles of training in Washington and Cuba, so I feel I will do very well at the games,” Williams said.

As the senior member of the team, Hield said he’s looking forward to returning for his second appearance at the games.

“I got in some good workouts and a lot of sparring,” he said. “I’m going over there to medal.”

At the Commonwealth Games, Hield had two matches in the welterweight division. He won his opener with a first round technical knockout over Mbachi Kaonga from Zambia, but he lost out to Canadian Custio Clayton in his second match.

“Boxing at the CAC Games is going to be tough because you have all of the top boxers in the region competing,” Hield said. “It’s just who wants it the most. You have to go out there and perform. All of the training is finished. It’s just fight time now.”

The 27-year-old Hield said that he and his team-mates have worked extremely hard in Cuba and so he’s confident that they will all come out with medals. Hield was on the team in 2010 when Valentino Knowles picked up a gold medal in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.

Middleweight Strachan, 23, said he had an extremely successful training camp in Cuba and he’s now ready to get into the ring to rumble.

“I’m in very good condition and I feel I like I can do it and I know I’m going to go there and do it,” he said. “I’ve been training hard for it and I’m not going to let anything stop me.”

Reflecting on his last outing at the Commonwealth Games, Strachan said he’s looking forward to a possible rematch with Aaron Prince from Trinidad & Tobago, who beat him out on points.

“I have something in store for him and the Puerto Rican who I saw in the trials before the games,” Strachan said. “Since I came home from Cuba, I got in some workout with Ray Minus Jr and Gregory Storr and that went very well. I am really looking forward to competing in the games.”

With the three guys working out together, Strachan said they have the potential to do some things in Mexico.