Manswell in gold medal showdown

TRINIDAD and Tobago and Caribbean heavyweight boxing champion seems set to win the gold medal at an international tournament currently underway in Puerto Rico.

Manswell, on Tuesday night, beat his Puerto Rican opponent and will clash with a top-ranked Brazilian in the championship bout tomorrow. News of the Tobagonian’s success was relayed by Tansley Thompson, well-known Trinidad and Tobago sports personality who is assisting Manswell. Thompson, who is in Virginia, USA is in contact with Manswell as he prepares for the upcoming Pan American Games to be staged in the Dominican Republic in August. He said Manswell needs all the support he can get in this crucial stage of his preparation and expressed his appreciation in this respect to Miami-based International Freight Services Trinidad Limited headed by Trinidadian Graham Rodriguez.

Rodriguez is the son of former West Indies and Trinidad and Tobago cricketer Willie Rodriguez, the present president of the Queen’s Park Cricket Club in Port-of-Spain. Manswell was a silver medallist at both the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England and the Central American and Caribbean Games in El Salvador last December. He left last week for Puerto Rico to participate in the international tournament and will be based in Cuba before leaving for the Pan Am Games.