The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Was the Amateur Boxing Federation of the Bahamas' election duly constituted?

One of the potential candidates, Michelle Minus, doesn't feel so. That's one of the reasons why she wasn't present during the annual general meeting at the Thomas A Robinson National Stadium on Saturday.

Minus and Ikanna Johnson were two women who originally were vying to contest the top post against Vincent Strachan after incumbent Wellington Miller had indicated that he had no desire to seek another term in office.

However, before the date of the election, Minus said she was informed by the federation that her application for the presidency was not accepted in time to be placed on the ballot sheet.

Johnson was accepted but, during the election process, she was defeated 7-3 by Strachan. Johnson, in turn, has decided to challenge the outcome, saying that the process was not fair.

Minus, outlining her decision not to participate in the election, said it seemed as if the federation intended for Strachan to be elected and not have any challenge opposition.

"Nobody knew about it," she said. "There was no public knowledge of it and so anytime you are doing a general election of that magnitude for a federation, it should be mentioned or broadcasted as to who is running for what post."

"I've never seen a private elections as the one they conducted. They provided us with some contact persons whom they say we need to submit our nominations to, but their numbers were not working and so you couldn't get in contact with anybody."

Minus said the only reason why Strachan was highly favoured to succeed Miller was because he was "one of the boys" and they wanted him to be re-elected.

After serving from 1994-96 as president, Strachan was voted back into office. But both Johnson and Minus said Strachan is not fit to return to office as the president because of a number of scandals that are attached to his name.

"It's a total disgrace because it was not done fairly," Minus said. "Whenever you are doing something, you have to realise that whoever you put there has to be reputable and you cannot have them in a position where they are always in the public's eyes.

"You have to basically represent the country nationally and internationally. So you can't put someone there who has some legal matters against them. I know some of the problems he had was in the past and people can transform. But some of the issues should not allow him to return to office."

Now that the elections are over and done with and she wasn't given a chance to contest the top spot, Minus said she will continue to pursue her interest in professional boxing as a promoter.

"I'm going to stay in the pro ranks because I'm really disgusted with what I've seen in the amateur ranks," she said. "I was hoping that I could make a difference in the amateur ranks, but they didn't want me to run.

"Nothing has happened in the amateur boxing or professional boxing in the last 4-5 years. This is really a disgrace and boxing has taken a nosedive in this country. But I really don't want to have anything to do with amateur boxing in the state that it is in right now."

As for the pro ranks, Minus said she's working on producing the card, but she indicated that until they can settle on the logistics with the Bahamas Boxing Commission, she would decline on making any formal announcement.