Boxing Coach Lauds Country’s Creole Performances

Boxing coach, Anthony Severin, has commended the Antigua & Barbuda national team, which competed at the Creole Boxing Tournament held in St Lucia over the weekend.
Team Antigua & Barbuda finished second amongst the invited countries and third overall at the tournament with five gold medals, two silver medals and a bronze to finish the tournament with 15 points, six points adrift Barbados. Barbados emerged top amongst the invited teams with 21 points. 
St Lucia won the Creole section of the competition with 19 points and was adjudged overall winner as only a creole country can win the tournament.
Antigua & Barbuda, according to Severin, did well despite having some of the boxers arriving late in St. Lucia.
“Some of the guys got in a bit late so that wasn’t good so they didn’t fight in their right weight division and that’s two guys from the Cobra Boxing Gym because it was a combined team we took down there.  We took eight boxers, six from the Uprising Boxing Gym and two from the Cobra Boxing Gym,” he said.
“Generally it was good, it was well organized and the people down there [St Lucia] are really working hard because they are hosting three competitions this year. We had the OECS and now the Creole and next will be the big one, the Caribbean Championships in December,” he added. 
For Antigua & Barbuda, Joshua Toussaint won gold in the Bantamweight, Amor Speid had gold in the Welterweight and best junior trophy while Justin Sorionofranco took gold in the Light Middleweight.
There was gold also for Lance Robinson in the Novice Welterweight and Yakita Aska won gold in the Elite Heavyweight category.
Uriah DeSilver punched his way to a silver medal in the Youth Bantamweight while Wynton Phillip won the country’s other silver in the Welterweight category. The lone bronze won by Antigua & Barbuda was taken by Kibwana James in the Light Welterweight.
The team competed in the junior, youth, novice and elite divisions, neglecting only the female division owing to a lack of competitors on the local front.
“We didn’t have any females and we don’t have any females in the gym consistently but I am trying to recruit some young ones from the schools but they are not consistent right now. We just need to be settled in and reach out to the youngsters in the schools and let them know that boxing is available and I think we would have the interest,” the coach said.
Phillip, who won silver at the tournament, said he was forced to fight a weight class higher than originally intended but expressed joy in having won at the well-attended competition. 
 “I originally represented for 60 kilograms [140 pounds] which is lightweight but when we got there we went straight on the scale so I had to scale in at 64 kilograms so I had to go up and fight the weight class above me which I won the silver medal,” the athlete said. 
Nine countries in Dominica, Trinidad & Tobago, Barbados, St Maarten, Guadeloupe, Martinique, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Antigua & Barbuda and hosts St Lucia took part in the competition.