The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

RASHIELD Williams was the lone Bahamian competitor to advance out of the first round of the final World Qualification Event in Baku, Azerbaijan, keeping his hopes alive for a shot at moving on to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in August.

The last of the six-member team at the week long tournament in the 2,200 seat multi-purpose Sarhadchi arena that hosted the 2010 Youth Boxing Championship, Williams pulled of a 3-0 decision in his men’s light welterweight division or 64 kilogram class over Miguel Ferrin from Ecuador.

“First of all, I want to thank the heavenly Father for making it possible. The team fought well. They put their best foot forward, especially Kieshno Major,” Williams told The Tribune right after his victory that had all three judges giving him a slim 29-28 edge. “I know Ecuador was a big country and the competitor was a stiff challenge, so I knew we were going punch for punch. I’m just happy that I came out with this success.”

Williams, who will have to finish in the top five in his division to qualify, won’t fight his second round match until Tuesday, but he said he’s looking forward to it.

“I’m just going to continue to fight and to fight from my heart,” Williams projected. “I know it won’t be easy, but I will be ready for the challenge.”

His performance came after the other five boxers all got eliminated over the first three days of competition over the weekend. On Friday, Israel Johnson, Carl Hield and Kieshno Major were all ousted, while Rudolph Regis went out on the opening day on Thursday.

On Saturday, heavyweight (91kg) Davon Hamilton was the fifth boxer to get eliminated after he lost 3-0 to Croatia’s Josip-Bepo Filipi. All three judges scored it 30-25 on their scorecards in favor of Filipi.

“This was a good event,” Hamilton said. “All I have to do is keep my head up, get better, look at different styles and do my thing in the ring. The experience was good. I know that there were a lot of top dogs in my weight with a lot of experience. I wasn’t going to let that get to me because I know my skill level. I just have to train and get better for the next time around.”

Despite the loss, Hamilton, who train with the Strikers Boxing Club, coached by Ronn Rodgers, said he will cherish the opportunity to try out for the Olympics.

“We have a couple competition coming up in the United States, so we will prepare for them,” Hamilton said. “These competitions I don’t take lightly. You have to meet your match some day, so I train to show them coming from the Bahamas, we take this sport serious. This is no joking matter.

“Hats of to my coach (Ronn Rodgers). He’s been doing a remarkable job. I want to show him some love. He’s been putting in 100 percent in the Strikers Boxing Club and we have been coming on strong,” Hamilton pointed out. “Win or lose, he still have his faith in us and once you believe in someone, you continue to fight for them.”

Hamilton thanked everybody in the Bahamas for their support and he advised them that despite the loss, he will not give up and he encourage any other boxer who is interested to come out and get involved in the sport.

The Bahamas had three boxers ousted from the competition on Friday.

Competing in the men’s middleweight (75kg), Carl Hield suffered a 3-0 loss to Spain’s Damian Biacho Bolequia. In a keenly contested match, the judges all scored it 29-28 for Biacho Bolequia.

“I want to give a special thanks to my mother, my family and Arlie and Orlie Dean some of the people who helped me to get her to go after my dream,” said Hield, who indicated that he’s now focusing on 2020 and the next Olympics. “I want to give all the thanks to the people.

“I want to give God thanks for coming out of the ring without any injuries. I felt good about my fight, but this is Europe. These judges see it a different way that everybody see it. You just have to go out and do your best and hope that you come out with a win.”

With the dream put on hold, Hield said he’s looking forward to the improvement in the sport, not just from him, but coach Knowles as they prepare for the road to 2020 in Tokyo, Japan. Hield, the most experienced boxer left in the local amateur programme said he’s hoping that he’s hoping to turn things around the next time.

“Thanks to coach Valentino Knowles, my teammates and everybody here,” said Hield as he summed up his trip. “Everybody see it. The judges decision here is just poor. The judges are not in favor of the Americas. It seemed like they are just looking out for the Europeans and Asians.”

Light heavyweight (81 kg) Israel Johnson went down 3-0 as well to Heegeun Yang from Korea. Yang was awarded the bout by scores of 30-27 by the three judges.

“My performance was acceptable,but I am happy and grateful for this opportunity to try out for the Olympics,” Johnson said. “It is what it is. I know what went wrong, so I am prepared to put this behind me and look ahead to the future and try to get better for the next time.”

Johnson said he just have to go back to the drawing board as he review the film and work on the things that he did wrong in the fight. He said he felt coaches Knowles and Rodgers prepared them well for the fight, but he experienced what he called the “politics” of the sport as he realized how difficult it was for the Americas boxers to get past the European competitors.

“I’m just going to go back and train harder and work on the things that went wrong,” Johnson stressed. “Coaches Valentino Knowles and Ronn Rodgers did an excellent job preparing us. But for me personally, it wasn’t what I expected. I felt that a lot of us got robbed. But that’s the politics of the sport.”

Looking back at his bout, Johnson said he felt it could have gone either way, but h’s not going to let the defeat get him down. Instead, he will use it as an inspiration to get him ready for the future.

And super heavyweight Kieshno Major lost another close encounter 3-0 to Konstantin Li from Kyrgyzstan. The three judges had it 29-28 in favor of Li.

“The performance by Kieshno was one of the best that I’ve seen,” said coach Knowles. “I could say that he came up with his best performance at the right time. Many people felt he won the fight, but the judges saw it differently.”

As for Hield, Knowles said the veteran gave it his best shot.

“The fight was really, really close. You can see from the judges’ cards, he was right in the fight,” Knowles said. “It was one of those fights that could have gone either way. Unfortunately, it didn’t go Carl’s way.”

Knowles, a former outstanding amateur boxer turned coach after his brief professional career was aborted after a near fatal drive by shooting, said the inexperience worked against Johnson.

“He’s only been on the circuit for three years, so as a young boxer, we didn’t expect for him to come here and become an Olympic qualifier,” Knowles said. “This is a high level of competition and the experienced gained will only help him in the future.”

On Thursday, Chu-En Lai from Chinese Taipei won 3-0 over Rudolph Regis in the men’s lightweight (60kg). Two judges scored it 30-24 and the other was 30-25 for Lai.

“It was a great experience,” Regis said. “I just have to train harder because I realize that there are fighters here who wanted it more and they went for it.”

Regis, in his international debut, thanked coaches Knowles and Rodgers for helping him to get into the ring.

“I am looking forward to staying in the sport and getting better,” said Regis, who also trains with the Strikers Boxing Club. “I know I can compete at this level. I just have to work harder.”

Knowles said he was pleased with what he saw from the entire team. He said the boxers all put their best foot forward and the coaching staff that include Godfrey Strachan did everything they could to get the boxers in the right frame of mind to compete.