The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

A contingent of boxers from throughout the Bahamas has been assembled to compete against their counterparts from around the region in the Boxing Federation of the Bahamas’ second annual Wellington ‘Sonny Boy’ Rahming and Leonard ‘Boston Blackie’ Miller Memorial Boxing Championships this weekend.

The team, led by elite amateur boxers Carl Hield and Rashield Williams, exiting Tyrone Oliver and power hitting Israel Johnson, will be held tonight and Saturday, starting at 6pm, at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium. Boxers from Bermuda arrived in town yesterday and others from the Cayman Islands, Haiti, Jamaica and St Martin, are all due in town in time for the first bout.

At a press conference to introduce Team Bahamas and Bermuda, federation president Vincent Strachan said they are looking forward to hosting a fantastic show for the general public to come out and enjoy on both nights of competition.

“This is the establishment of the western Caribbean alliance,” Strachan said. “This was in the making for a long time and it’s finally coming together and we hope to continue to build on this foundation so that the boxers in our region will get the chance to compete and hopefully we can see some world champions emerging from the group.”

Nathan Dill, the president of the Bermuda Boxing Association, said they are honoured to receive the invitation from the Bahamas and in the friendship of competition, he said they have brought four boxers to compete in the tournament.

Bermuda’s boxing team consists of Adrian Roach, Bruce Perinchief, Annan Zuill and Gabriel Curuel.

“We are excited for this opportunity. Most of these guys, this is their first opportunity fighting overseas and so it’s going to be a learning experience for them to see how other countries do it and the other style of boxing they display.”

Dill said he’s appreciative of the relationship he has developed with Strachan and while he’s not been able to travel with the team from Bermuda, he made it a point to come to the Bahamas because he wants to make sure that the event is a tremendous success and a lasting impression on all of the boxers.

Joining Hield, Oliver and Johnson on Team Bahamas are Anal Powell, brothers Jalen and Jaiden Young from Florida, Davonne Musgrove, Christian Thompson, Tyrone Humes, Milton Newbold, Cayden Higgs, Willow Johnson, Isaiah Francois, Jiraiya Francois, Javon Bain, Colon Smith, Jason Bethel, Josiah Smith, Elijah Smith, Rico Arnett, Vincent Deleveaux, Latino Smith, Timothy Smith, Renaldo Cunningham, Israel Cox and Keano Cox.

Hield, speaking on behalf of Team Bahamas, said it’s exciting to see that the Bahamas will finally get to host an international boxing tournament.

“We need to get more active because although boxing did a lot of stuff, we have not gotten the kind of recognition that we deserve,” Hield said.

“We don’t really get the appreciation for the stuff we have done for the country.

“So with the young guys coming up, seeing what I did, what Valentino Knowles did, what Tureano Johnson did, we make room for them to come behind and try to do what we didn’t get to do. So it’s good to see the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ in the Bahamas.

“So we want to encourage the Bahamian people to come out and see the boxers go to work.

“We have a lot of boxers who are hungry and looking for some competition. So we hope the people will come out and support us. This is a step forward for boxing in the community so they can see where we need to go with the sport.”

Strachan said the Bahamian boxers will be matched against their competitors coming from the different countries. Where there are no boxers coming in for them to fight, Strachan said they will match them against their local counterparts in a prelude to the seventh Bahamas Games coming in July.

Gates open at 4pm each day and the show is expected to start at 6pm. Tickets will be sold at the door.