T&T boxers, Olympians Nigel Paul and Aaron Prince, Blessing Waldrop, Anthony Joseph and Donnell Phillips will hope to cash in on some much-needed cash prizes when the 2021 AIBA World Championships take place in Belgrade, Serbia from October 22- November 8.
The event is set to be a historic one for amateur fighters as it will be the first time that monies will be given out.
Cecil Forde, the President of the T&T Boxing Association revealed on Wednesday that monies amounting to US$175,000 will be given out for the top three positions, for instance, a gold medal winner will receive US$100,000, a silver medal winner US$50,000 and US$25,000 for the third-place fighter who will also receive a bronze medal.
Forde said it will change the face of boxing internationally. Paul, the super heavyweight fighter who went down to Nigeria Efe Ajagba in the first round of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, also missed out on qualifying for the last Tokyo, Japan Olympics and will be eager to return to action with attractive money prizes available.
Prince, the 75kg boxer who believes he won against Slovakian Andrej Csemez in his Olympic bout in Japan, could also get the opportunity to earn handsomely, along with Waldrop, Joseph and newcomer Donnell Phillips. Rawlson Dopwell and Reynold Cox will be the coaches for the team at the tournament, alongside referee/judge James Beckles and former world light flyweight title-holder Ria Ramnarine, who is now an AIBA employee.
So far 105 national federations have entered with a record of 600 boxers already registered.
According to the release: "Our athletes have been in a live-in camp for the past 12 months and all are eager for the opportunity to compete. Our three most senior members, Nigel Paul, Aaron Prince and Anthony Joseph are no strangers to this type of competition.
Blessing and Phillips are moving up and the experience is going to be of great importance as they start their journey to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Our strategic plan is a four-year plan that ends an Olympic cycle. This means that because of the conditions imposed on the world at large by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have now lost a full year in our preparation. The TTBA has selected six of our most promising young athletes who would be moving into the senior ranks. They have been performing most creditably from school Boys/Girls/Jrs and youth. They are Anthony Joseph, Juan Rodriguez, Nickel Joseph, Nyrell Hosein, Blessing Waldrop and Donnell Phillips."
Source: https://guardian.co.tt