The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

AN eight-member team, including for the first time boxers from the Strikers Boxing Club, has been selected to represent the Bahamas at the Independence Cup in the Dominican Republic February 18-25.

Coached by Andre Rodgers - the national coach - and assisted by Ronn Rodgers of the Strikers Boxing Club, the team will comprise of the following:

Keisno Major, Amron Sands and D’Angelo Sturrup in the 200 plus weight category; Israel Johnson in the 178 lb; Godfrey Strachan in 152 lb; Tyrone Oliver and Rashield Williams, both in the 141 and Kendrick Stuart in 122.

“This is our 15th year going there and every year we go there to start off our boxing programme and many other countries come there,” said Wellington Miller, president of the Bahamas Amateur Federation of the Bahamas. “We are taking a good number of new boxers. Carl Hield, our premier amateur boxer, is representing Mexico at the World Series of Boxing.

“We have a good number of new boxers who are going on this trip and we hope that we will leave the mark that we always have at the tournament. This year, we are taking three super heavyweights, it’s a rare commodity in boxing around the world. For us to produce three super heavyweights is a great accomplishment for us. It’s a big division and if we can accomplish some success over there, we feel we will have a very good tournament.”

Seymour said they are using the tournament as a tune-up to get the boxers ready for the Pan American Games qualifying tournament in May. But right after the trip to the Dominican Republic, Seymour said there will be another tournament in Puerto Rico in April that they hope to compete in. 

“All these boxers you see here are getting ready,” Seymour said. “It’s a good team that we are taking away and we are looking for some medals coming back from the Dominican Republic. We have our up and coming coaches, the new generation coaches, and so maybe after the Olympics, we will have a new national coach out of one of them.”

Rodgers, whose Strikers Club has brought a new dimension to the amateur programme, said this is by far the largest team ever sent to the tournament and he’s eager to see how well they compete against the high level of competition with boxers coming in from the Caribbean, the United States and even as far as Europe.

“All of the boxers have been training,” he said. “This is one of the tournaments where the boxers can get their experience level up. This is a qualifying year for the Olympics and we are trying to get as many boxers qualified. We had a couple of fighters like Reno Johnson, Valentino Knowles and Andre Seymour who have paved the way, but now we are trying to get atleast 4-5 guys qualified, which also shows how boxing is growing in the Bahamas.”

Members of the team are excited about going to the tournament.

Israel Johnson, who will be competing in the heavyweight division, said he wants to go in and do all that he prepared himself to do.

“I know this is a big tournament, but my goal is to just go out and win,” said 18-year-old Johnson, who will be making his first trip to an international event for the Bahamas. “I have fought some of the boxers from the region before. It’s just going to be in a different location.”

Johnson, who won the Florida Golden Glove last year, said they all plan to go to the Dominican Republic and come back as champions.

Amron Sands, his teammate who is also making his debut at the tournament, said he’s going in very confident and looking forward to being very successful.

“I just want to thank the Lord for this opportunity and I hope to come back with a medal,” Sands said. “I’m looking for nothing but the gold. We have a very good team and I feel that we will all do very well because we are all capable of performing very well.”

Returning for his third appearance in the tournament, 25-year-old Rashield Williams said the experience that he gained will definitely help him to prevail this time around.

“I just have to stick to the game plan and continue boxing,” he said. “I can’t give up. This tournament has some of the best boxers in the world, so you have to be ready.”

Keishno Major, just missing out on the opportunity to get a medal at the last tournament, said he’s looking forward to improving on his performance.

“I just have to go out there and get the job done early,” Major said. “I feel pretty good going into this tournament. We did a lot of training to get ready. Once I can go in there and execute early, I won’t have to worry about any close calls with the final decision.”

And Godfrey Strachan, winner of a bronze and silver medal in his previous appearances in the tournament, said he is fully prepared and looking forward to competing this year.

“I got some sparring from Reno Johnson and some tips from Valentino Knowles, so I feel I’m ready to compete this year,” Strachan said.

The team, according to Miller, will be setting the pace for the future of the sport, especially as they begin the road to the Olympics in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.