Petrotrin rescue Salandy fight

THE LONG-AWAITED first defence of the Ibero-Latin American boxing title by Trinidad and Tobago’s Giselle Salandy will definitely take place on January 30. This was confirmed yesterday by manager of the Siparia welterweight fighter Curtis Joseph.

The eight-rounder was put in jeopardy when the deadline for the payment of sanction fees and other related costs associated with the championship bout closed in on the Salandy camp who were unable to raise the more than $20,000 required. But after some anxious moments yesterday, Joseph said the state-owned oil company Petrotrin have agreen to underwrite the money which will enable the Salandy fight to go on. Salandy, who turns 17 next week, meets Colombian Paola Rojas at the Central Indoor Sports Facility in Chaguanas, more than a year after capturing the weltwerweight crown in Curacao. Yesterday Joseph said he had to summon all his faith and reconnect with his contacts at Petrotrin where he worked for several years as a supervisor, and later as a union official to rescue the fight. He made special mention of Hamza Deane and Arnold Cornea, who both work in the company’s Communications Department for the timely intervention in getting their superiors to respond positively to the plea.

Joseph said among the fees to be underwritten by Petrotrin are the Sanction Fee (US $500), Fee for officials (TT $2,000), Total purse ($10,000), and Salandy’s Professional Licence (TT $100). “We were told that if the money could not be raised by Tuesday, the Boxing Board of Control would have no other choice but to refuse to sanction the bout,” said Joseph yesterday. It is understood that the Boxing Board will meet on Wednesday to consider the January 30 card and chairman Melchoir Taylor is adamant that all financial arrangements must be in place before the bout takes place. This follows severe criticism of arrangements made for a card last year, put on by Cecil Forde when boxers complained bitterly that they were not paid. The Board was made to bear the brunt of the media barbs for failing to purse money prior to the card for the fighters.

Yesterday Joseph said had it not been for the intervention of Petrotrin, even the tickets to be sent for the Colombian party would not have been available since they were yet to be paid for. “We needed to send the tickets today (Friday) since the Colombians are supposed to come in on Monday. On faith alone I implored the travel agancy to allow us to keep the tickets with the firm conviction that we would be getting a godfather,” Joseph said. Regional head of the Women’s International Boxing Association (WIBA), Molly Boxhill said yesterday she had received the official correspondence from Luis Bello, president of the WIBA sanctioning the Salandy/Rojas fight. Joseph said that Salandy is in excellent shape for the rematch with Rojas and he expected a swift victory for his fighter. “Salandy is ready to win the bout. Right now she is weighing about 139 pounds and is in tip-top shape to defend her crown,” he said. He said he was appreciative of the financial help of Petrotrin.