Eyes on Gittens

Barbados’ five-member boxing team begin their campaign at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in San Salvador on June 22, with hopes riding on light heavyweight puncher Kimberly Gittens.

However, Barbados Boxing Association (BBA) president Richard Atwell says he is putting no pressure on either the champion female boxer or the rest of the team.

Gittens – who copped bronze at the 2018 CAC Games in Colombia and is Barbados’ co-flag bearer this year alongside swimmer Luis Sebastian Weekes – will be representing the island in the ring along with bantamweight Jabali Breedy, lightweight Ju-sean Shepherd, featherweight Tyreece Taitt, and light heavyweight Charles Cox.

Speaking exclusively with Barbados TODAY, Atwell said the aim is for members of the team to medal.

He suggested that Gittens, the team’s most prominent and successful boxer, has the potential to bring home some hardware.

“Kimberly is no stranger to this kind of competition and coping with pressure. We expect her to do well, just like the other boxers, but we haven’t placed any kind of pressure on them. We just told them to give their best,” Atwell said.

To prepare for the CAC Games, the BBA sent the boxers to a training camp in Guyana.

It was headed by coach Mark Innis, with the assistance of three-star coaches Terrance Poole and Sebert Blake, Cuban coach Francisco Roldan, and Guyana’s national coach Lennox Daniels.

The Bajan boxers trained alongside their counterparts from Guyana, who will also compete at the games.

Atwell called the Guyana training stint a success, telling Barbados TODAY that the collaborative effort between regional boxing associations will “help to lift the boxing in the Caribbean”.

“We intend to give exposure to our boxers when we can, when it is cost-effective, so we can give them the best possible chance at doing our country proud,” he reasoned.

Barbados’ six boxers form part of the 115-member contingent named by the Barbados Olympic Association (BOA), the largest team the country has fielded since qualification became mandatory.

Barbados will field entries in aquatics, archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, chess, cycling (road and track), equestrian, golf, men’s hockey, women’s hockey, karate, netball, rowing, sailing, shooting, surfing, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, triathlon, weightlifting, and wrestling.

The CAC delegation will also include 66 officials.

In the history of the CAC Games, which started in 1926, Barbados won 81 medals – 16 gold, 15 bronze, and 50 bronze.

rawletoney@barbadostoday.bb