Young ‘Fighters’ recognised at T&TABA awards

Boxers Reynaldo Christie, N’kos Myers and Adrian Stanley are all aspiring to participate at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janiero Brazil. The trio, who are from the Fighter’s Club of Chaguanas, were among the top recipients of awards at the annual awards ceremony of the T&T Amateur Boxing Association (T&TABA) which was held at the VIP Lounge, Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo on February 24.

Christie, 17, won the gold medal in the Youth welterweight category at the National Championships which took place from January 30-February 3 at the Woodbrook Youth Facility. His teammate, Myers, captured the bronze medal in the light-welterweight category while Stanley was a sliver medalist in the middleweight class. All three boxers were debutants at the championship in which close to 100 boxers from 20 gyms across the country took part. Some of the other top performers from other clubs such as San City, Fine Line, Ultimate Gym, Ruff House and Cosmic were also recognised.

At the ceremony, T&TABA resident Cecil Forde commended the male and female boxers for their efforts in 2012 but urged them to strive for greater excellence in 2013 particularly with selection to represent the country at 2014 Glasgow  Commonwealth Games, 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto and 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro looming. Christie, Myers and Stanley, under their trainer Keith Connell, branched off into boxing from mixed martial arts and are exciting prospects for the future. “This was my first time entering the tournament and it was not just an eye opener but it helped me to gain experience and confidence in myself to hopefully move on to greater things,” said Christie.

“I look up to guys like Floyd Mayweather but locally Kurt Sinnette is also someone I admired because he’s done pretty good while representing the country on the international stage. I intend to keep working hard and working towards making it on to the national team to participate at some of the upcoming international tournaments,” he added. Stanley has an eye on Rio 2016 but believes the opportunities presented through Boxing may be ideal to get stranded youth off the streets and away from a life of crime. “I was quite pleased and felt honoured to have the opportunity to participate in the championship put on by the National Amateur Association. I didn’t know what to expect but I exceeded my expectations and came out a better boxer and an aspiring champion,” said Stanley.

 “I think boxing is an great way of getting some of the youths who are starved for meaningful activity to channel their energies into something positive such as fighting in the ring and representing the country.” Myers meantime, described the experience of stepping into the ring as heart-racing at first. “Our preparation for the championship was quite intense but done over a short period of time.  And stepping into the ring as a first timer was a bit nerve racking but I was able to settle quickly. “This showed me that nothing beats experience and I was quite happy to have had this opportunity to take part in the championship and come away with a medal,” Myers said.