The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

Despite falling short of his goal at the 2021 AIBA World Boxing Championships, Carl Hield said he’s not yet prepared to give up on his amateur boxing career. He wants to continue competing for the Bahamas through the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France.

Home for a brief break last week after he completed his duties with professional boxer Rashield Williams at the World Boxing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, Hield said he’s now focusing his attention on preparing for the 2022 Commonwealth Games

“First of all, I want to give God thanks for giving me the strength and the guidance and protecting me and opening all of the doors that he did for me this year,” Hield said.

“I had a good year, but the World Championships didn’t go as I expected.

“It was the first big international competition in two years for me, but next year is going to be another big year with the Commonwealth Games taking place, so I’m looking forward to that.”

The 2022 Commonwealth Games is scheduled for July 28 to August 8 in Birmingham, England, and Hield is hoping that he can participate in at least three or four competitions before the event.

After that he said his concentration will be on 2023 when the 24th Central American Games will take place in Panama City, Panama, at a date yet to be announced, the Pan American Games, scheduled for Santiago, Chile, from October 20 to November 5 and Olympic Qualifier with the date and venue has not been disclosed as yet.

“I was representing the Bahamas for a very long time, but I’m not interested in turning pro,” Hield said. “The good thing about the sport is that it’s like track and field where you could go pro and still fight as an amateur.

“So I will continue to box as an amateur for as long as I can.”

There were some issues in Serbia where Hield and Williams were not supplied with the Bahamas uniforms, but Hield said he can not speak on the situation because he wasn’t given any explanation by the amateur boxing president Vincent Strachan, who was the head of the delegation.

As the flag bearer for the event, Hield said he was disappointed that the boxing federation was unable to provide the uniform for the team, but he didn’t let it discourage him.

Looking back at both his and Williams fights, Hield said he really thought they both pulled it off, but it wasn’t meant to be and they got eliminated early in the competition.

“We just have to get in more fights before the competition,” Hield said. “So next year, I’m looking at doing at least a show in February and again in June in Venezuela, which should prepare me for the Commonwealth Games.

“You can train, train and train, but you really need the competition to get sharper.

“So once we can get in some competition leading up to the games, we will be better prepared when we step into the ring.”

Since 2009 when he was introduced to the sport by Ray Minus Jr, Hield has been carrying the Bahamian flag, sometimes as the lone representative for the island nation.