The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net COACH Andre Seymour says local boxers Valentino Knowles and Carl Hield have a golden opportunity to continue their preparation for the "Road to London" when they travel to Cardiff, Wales, this weekend. As they get ready for the final qualifying tournament to be held May 3-13 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Seymour will accompany Knowles and Hield as they leave town on Saturday to participate in an International Boxing Association training camp. The camp is slated to begin February 19 and run through March 10. The Bahamas will be joined in Wales by 50 other countries from the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia. "Both of our boxers are looking for it. This is just to keep them in shape. They will be training with a lot of boxers from around the world. It's a good opportunity for them to start preparing themselves," Seymour said. "They just need to stay focused because with the new rules in amateur boxing, they have to be very busy. In boxing, you have to throw a lot of punches. You can't get left behind. We have to look at boxers from Brazil and Argentina." Going into the final qualifying tournament, both Knowles and Hield are ranked in the top five in the 64 and 69 kilo classes respectively in the Americas. The trip, according to Knowles, is just what the doctor ordered as they get ready for the final qualifying tournament. "It's a training camp for us to go up there and train and to add to the tools that I need to use when we go to the final trials," Knowles said. He noted that at this point in the year, he's "not too far behind and not too far ahead" of where he needs to be. "I feel I need to work on a lot more combinations going into the final round," he said. "I need to work on a lot more body strength and physical strength. With the final trials still a couple of months away, Knowles said he knows of the importance of being ready because it will come down to whether or not he can pack his bags in July and head to London, England. "With everything that I'm doing now, I'm trying to put that Olympic touch to it," he said. "I'm stepping up my training and trying to be physically and mentally ready. There's nothing much that you can do now that you haven't learnt so far. You just have to try and stay sharp with the tools that you have and hope that you can put it all together when the trials come up." Knowles admits that the final trials will be important because if he doesn't make it, he's not sure what direction his future will take from there. Amateur On Saturday, February 5, 16-year-old Lester Brown decided to quit as an amateur and he began his professional career in the bantamweight division with a first round knockout over Anthon Ward. Seymour said he's confident that both Knowles and Hield will perform very well. He also said that he's not looking at either of them turning pro right now. He said their focus is on the London Olympics.