Kaieteur News
Wednesday March 26, 2014
Fitness Express maintains support of Hugh Ross Classic
Page 41
Three amateur boxers for St. Lucia Goodwill tournament
- in store 2 hour visit and interaction with fans on tomorrow
Bert Braithwaite
Manager of Fitness Express, Jamie Mc Donald (centre) is flanked by Jeff ‘Classic’ Beckham (left) and Hugh Ross. Their commitment towards the continued development of sports in Guyana was once again expressed in tangible terms when Fitness Express Manager Jamie Mc Donald welcomed Hugh Ross Classic Guest Poser Jeff ‘Classic’ Beckham to Guyana. Fitness Express sponsored the ticket and fees for Beckham to be in Guyana on the invitation of long time friend and buddy, Hugh Ross. Yesterday, at Fitness Express, located at 47 John and Sheriff Streets, Campbellville, Ross extended gratitude to Mc Donald for his unflinching support to the classics noting the significant part Fitness Express has been playing in the growth and success of the show over the years. “I am humbly grateful to Mr. Mc Donald, fitness Express and staff for their partnership over the years, the Hugh Ross Classic Committee is really appreciative of your largesse a n d w o r d s o f encouragement.” Mc Donald in response thanked Ross and his
committee for allowing his entity the opportunity to be on board once again. “Fitness Express, ever since it opened four years ago have made it a priority to be deeply involved with body building and powerlifting and the strength sports in general in Guyana, so any time an opportunity comes up we are always on board to help out in any way we can. Mc Donald noted that he had no hesitation in agreeing to bring Beckham to Guyana especially since the IFBB Pro is very knowledgeable about the sport, nutrition and fitness. “In addition to him guest posing at the HRC Show, on Thursday (tomorrow) Jeff will be at our store between 14:00 – 16:00hrs and will answer any questions that customers or members of the general public poses to him about fitness, body building and nutrition in general. We are very excited to have him here for this as well.” In brief remarks Beckham expressed gratitude to Fitness Express for agreeing to sponsor him. He noted that this is only the second time that he has
traveled out of the USA and a l r e a d y, h a s b e e n experiencing the warmth and hospitality of the Guyanese fans. “I’m having a wonderful time here and would like to thank Hugh for inviting me down here. I would like to encourage everybody to come at Fitness Express store and ask whatever questions they want. You can come punch me in my arms and have your photos taken, I’m cool, I’m just looking forward to see and interact with all you guys.” Tickets for Saturday’s show are on sale at the National Cultural Centre at $1500 each. Show time at the same venue is 19:00hrs. Weigh-in time for athletes will be 10:00hrs on Saturday also. Saturday’s showdown will feature defending champion Kerwyn Clarke whose quest to retain the overall crown will not be an easy task as he would have to get past the likes of old rival Devon Davis, Marlon Bennett, Alfred Jordon and new Novice King, Sylvester Andrews. A mouth watering show is in the making.
The executive body of the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) has intensified its efforts to expose local pugilists to as much international competitions as possible to maximize their chances of procuring lucrative international accolades and subsequently, that coveted Olympics gold medal. As such, close on the heels of the locally staged Tri-Nation Goodwill tournament in February and a similar venture in Barbados early this month, the GBA will field a three man team to compete against a strong squad out of St Lucia in a three nights Goodwill tournament from March 2830 next. Those selected for national duties are Ron Smith (69kgs), Bert Braithwaite (64kgs) and Delon Charles (56kgs). Dennis Thomas (75kgs), Eon Bancroft (69kgs) and
Theresa London (75kgs) were initially shortlisted to be a part of the squad but have all been side-lined for differing reasons. London was deemed ineligible after she was stopped in her last international outing, the South American Games, and will have to conform to a three months rest from competitions while Thomas has been cited for indiscipline while participating at the very games and is slated to appear before a disciplinary committee soon. Bancroft’s performance over the past few months have also come into question and President of the GBA, Steve Ninvalle said that his patience is running thin in relation to the poor returns of some of the boxers, thus his omission. He said that Bancroft has had a long run in Cuba at the Macedo Cardova championships, the
Ron Smith Tr i N a t i o n C a r i b b e a n championship and quite recently, the tournament in Chile. A visibly upset Ninvalle said that he could no longer tolerate the below par performances of some of the boxers. He said that he is tempted to place heavy concentration on the nursery project since the elite boxers are either incapable or unwilling to deliver the goods. “We are investing heavily in these boxers and they don’t seem to understand that when they under-perform it makes our job of procuring sponsorship for them very challenging so I think that the time is right to employ stiff measures and criteria as a prerequisite to their selection at international games,” Ninvalle declared. The team participating in the St Lucia tournament leaves Guyana tomorrow morning and will get into action one night later.