The Tribune

By Amajahl Knowles

THE 20th Annual Wellington “Sonny Boy” Rahming Silver Glove Tournament was held at the Wulff Road Boxing Square this past Saturday.

According to the organisers, the tournament was designed to showcase young boxers in the country and pit the different boxing clubs against each other,

Ray Minus Jr, organiser and founder of Champion Amateur Boxing Club, said he is pleased to host an event for 20 years as it shows that this is a programme of consistency and good quality event.

“We always try to reach out to all the clubs, even the Family Islands to try get as much fighters as possible,” said Minus Jr. He said he was encouraged by the public support as the event was well attended but he was especially encouraged by the amount of young persons that came out.

“It was good to see all the kids that came out and was out to the event and the amount of people that showed up even though there wasn’t an overwhelming amount of matches, the matches that took place were action packed,” said Minus Jr.

The showcase also highlighted both individual and club performances as Meacher Major’s Amateur Club won the overall club trophy, Don Brown won most improved boxer, the most outstanding boxer was Davan Hamilton and the best fight award went to Kayron Patterson and Ethon Tucker.

Minus Jr went on to mention a list of boxers who have recently made a splash on the international stage.

“Carl Hield who has over 200 fights, he is now in Cuba and has been able to blend in well into that system. Valentino Knowles, Meacher Major and Jermaine “Choo Choo” Mackey are all guys that have gotten a lot of international exposure because they took advantage of the experience that they received from the Champion Boxing Club,” said Minus Jr.

He also noted that even though experience is essential for their growth, boxers also need the right training in order to unlock their full potential.

“There is a saying that you must eat, sleep and drink boxing in order to become a champion, we encourage our boxers to live by this philosophy and once they acquire this type of spirit they will rise above and be successful,” said Minus Jr.

He also went on to mention that there are a lot of good boxers in his programme and he is optimistic about the prospects that he has within his programme and the Bahamas in general.

“I have a pair of 15 and 16-year-old boxers that are good enough to compete in the Olympics in 2020 and represent the Bahamas. I believe we will eventually turnaround the world, even though right now we may be going through a phase, a difference of opinions within the community. I feel we will rise above and have one of the greatest boxing programmes in the history of this country and have many great fighters. Possibly the next Floyd Mayweather, you never know because he had to start from somewhere.”

Minus Jr said that he continues to want to encourage all the other boxing clubs and give these fighters the exposure that they need in order to advance to that next step in their careers.

Champion Amateur Boxing Club’s next event - The “Spirit of Sportsmanship” amateur boxing show – is all set for Saturday, June 13.