The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

COACH Andre Seymour and his crew of amateur boxers are back together again as they prepare for the Olympic Games qualifying tournaments next year.

On Saturday night at Ray Minus Jr’s Champion Boxing Club, the Amateur Boxing Federation of the Bahamas hosted its box-off with Ronald Woodside, Rashield Williams and Keishno Major, three of the four elite boxers, winning over their opponents from the Strikers Boxing Club.

Woodside defeated Kendrick Stuart, while Williams won over Tyrone Oliver and Major knocked off Amron Sands.

Carl Hield, the most decorated amateur boxing still competing, didn’t have an opponent to compete against.

Seymour, the national amateur boxing coach, said it was good for the association to stage the box off because the boxers can now go full stream into their preparation for the trials next year, knowing that they have solidified their positions on the national team.

“We knew we had to have the box off early because the deadline for us to submit the names of the boxers for the trials in Argentina is next month,” Seymour said. “But it’s been a long time since we had a box off and these boxers proved that they deserve to be on the team again. They performed extremely well.”

Williams, in his win over Oliver, said he went to the box off to put on a show. “I’m the best 64 kiloclass boxer in the country. He didn’t stand any chance,” Williams said. “All of the guys put on an excellent show. It was nice. It was a great show.”

As he now prepares for the trials, Williams said they have a very good team and “each one of us will go out there and qualify for the Olympics.”

After a two-year hiatus, Woodside is back and he said he’s better than before and it showed against Stuart.

“It was nice to be back after two years. I was looking forward to putting on a nice show for everybody,” he said. “I just wanted to let everybody know that I’m back. It feels great, magnificent to come back and put on a stunning performance before everybody. I just wanted them to know that I’m back and nobody is going to be taking my spot.”

Woodside, who had taken some time off to get his life in order, said he missed the fellowship he had with the elite boxers. “It was just amazing to be back in the atmosphere,” he said. “I’m looking forward to some great things next year. I’m looking forward to some big things.”

And Major admitted that he had his hands full against Sands, but he’s delighted that he was able to pull off the victory.

“I had to use more of my legs with this one,” Major said. “His power is evenly matched as mine, so I couldn’t go in the ring and spar with him. So I had to use my experience to get over this fight.”

Considered to be “brothers, who have been together for a while,” Major said each one of them “pushes each other to go hard in the gym. We don’t look at going on a trip, but this is mortality for us. This is the big bang. This is what we have been training for. Everything was leading up to this box off and we all came through.”

As for the trials next year, Major said he wants to stay focused and with Valentino Knowles expected back to join their training camp, they should be okay, once they can get their “minds set” on the task ahead of them.

And while he didn’t have any competitor to box against, Hield said it was good to watch Williams, Woodside and Major all book their tickets for the Olympic trials.

“I want to give God thanks for giving me the opportunity to travel to watch my fellow teammates  compete, so the other guys can’t say they didn’t get a chance to compete for a spot on the team,” said Hield, who came in from his training camp in Cuba. “They had their chance and they lost. Now they have to wait their chance again.

“With this group of boxers who got through, we have three months in a training camp to get focused for the Olympic Games. The last Olympics was very hard to qualify and this one, it won’t be any easier, so we just have to get our minds set and with the help of the association, we should be able to do it.”

While he’s expected to return to Cuba on Saturday, Hield said he wasn’t surprised that there wasn’t any opponents to face him.

“Whoever is willing to come out, I’m ready to fight,” he said. “The guys already showed me what they have, but I don’t think they are ready for me right now.”

The other three boxers - Woodside, Williams and Major - are expected to join Hield in training in Cuba in January.

And with the first trials set for March in Argentina, Seymour said the boxers, along with Hield, are all set to compete.