Ramnarine in Boxing Hall of Fame

Ramnarine, who has been involved in boxing for the past two decades, said she first learnt of the news on Facebook early yesterday morning.

A stunned Ramnarine explained that the news took a while to register.

“At first it did not really sink in, I could not really believe it and then that switched to excitement, and then more so a feeling of being extremely proud that I can represent my sport and my country to this level where I am inducted in a Hall of Fame that has so many other great names.”

Ramnarine added, “I caught it (heard the news) on Facebook before I was informed formally because one of the directors (of IWBHF), she posted it on the women’s boxing archive network page, at first it was so unreal because I did not have formal communication before and actually while I was sending it off to my coach and a few friends, all then the formal communication came through.”

Ramnarine thanked the people who helped her achieve so much in the sport starting with Bharrath Ramoutar “Definitely (I would like to thank) my coach and manager when I was an athlete Bharrath Ramoutar.

I would say he has been the most instrumental person, he has been there from day one, he believes in me even when I did not believe in myself, he saw my potential and always push me to become the best athlete that I could become.”

The former national boxer also thanked her family and training partners. “My family of course, their support was tremendous throughout, my gym mates. I have gone through many training partners because I have been in the sport almost two decades, all my training partners particularly prince Lee Isidore, he has been there for a long time giving me all the support that I need especially as a sparring partner.”

Ramnarine also praised the local boxing fraternity and the fans for their support.

A current gym instructor at the High performance Unit in the Academy of sport at the University of Trinidad and Tobago explained that her work outside the ring helped her gain the recognition.

“I was fortunate to attend the very first ceremony of the IWBHF Awards back in 2014. There was a really nice explanation and a really nice write up on what the Hall of Fame is about.
It is not just for our exploits in the ring, a win and loss record does not define a champion or it does not define a person. It’s how they handle themselves out of the ring, the contribution they make back to their country, back to the sport, back to the young ones coming up.”

Two years ago Ramnarine launched the “Beyond the ring” programme which taught the participants the benefits of boxing such as living a healthy lifestyle, empowerment, increasing self-efficiency and self-defence. The programme has been internationally recognised as a means of empowering women.