The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AFTER suffering a slight injury to his right elbow in his first fight, Carl Hield was forced to stop fighting in his second fight on Wednesday night at the Central American and Caribbean qualifying tournament in Tijuana, Mexico.

Hield, 31, was coming off his 4-1 victory over Canadian born Jamaican Joshua Fraser in the 69-kilogram class or 147-pound welterweight category to qualify for the CAC Games in Barranquilla, Colombia, in July.

With the Commonwealth Games coming up in the Gold Coast, Australia, April 4-15, Hield said he didn’t want to take any chances of causing any further injury to his right elbow in Mexico, so his corner advised him to stop fighting.

“The fight was good. I was actually winning the fight,” said Hield, who didn’t come out for the start of the second round.

“This was just the qualifying tournament and since I had already qualified from the first fight, the corner told me to stop fighting against the reigning Cuban CAC champion Roniel Iglesias.

“I am happy with my performance. I saw the video and it showed that I performed very well against the Cuban. Even the judges when I got out of the ring said they felt I fought a good first round.”

Hield said he immediately received treatment on the elbow from the Trinidad & Tobago medical staff and is looking forward to going to the Commonwealth Games.

“That fight gave me a lot of confidence knowing what I can do,” he said. “The Trinidad medical team gave me a couple of shots and they iced it down. It feels a lot better now. They told me that in about 3-4 days I will be okay. It was just sore from the slight swelling.”

By the time he leaves Mexico on Sunday and returns to Cuba on Monday to continue his training in the last two weeks before the games, Hield said he expects to be in tip-top shape for the trip Down Under to the Gold Coast for the Commonwealth Games.

“My main objective was to come here and qualify for the CAC Games. I did that,” he said.

“My next objective is to go to the Commonwealth Games and win another medal. I want to focus on the Commonwealth Games and then get back to the CAC. “At the CAC Games, I expect to get my revenge on the Cuban. He beat me in the final of the last CAC Games and I had a good start against him in the qualifying tournament, but I didn’t get to complete the fight because of the injury.”

Hield said he will have his hands full in the Gold Coast with his main competitors coming from India, England and Ireland.

But he indicated that after his performance in Mexico, he’s both physically and mentally ready for the challenge ahead of him.

“After I saw what I did to the Cuban, I know I’m ready,” he insisted. “Everything worked out the way I wanted in Mexico. I completed my mission, which was to qualify and so now I just want to go to the Commonwealth Games and put on a show.”

Having won a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, India in 2010 and a silver medal at the CAC Games in Veracruz, Mexico in 2014, Hield is hoping that he can improve on those accomplishments and come out with a gold this year.