Potts threatens boxing uproar

ANOTHER major upheaval in the administration of amateur boxing in Trinidad and Tobago is being threatened. This time it involves the recommendation of the Amateur Boxing Association to introduce a Cuban coach to work with the nation’s simon pures as part of a Government to Government programme. Up in arms with the ABA officials is international match-maker Boxu Potts who said yesterday he was representing the BioMel Gym and is galvanising support to further his case. Potts, a former jockey said he has organised a meeting of several boxing club officials, especially from North Trinidad at the Arima Gym tomorrrow from 2 pm. “We are going to protest in the loudest fashion the recommendation the Amateur Association have made to bring in a Cuban coach to replace Vicente Martinez,” said Potts.

Martinez, who has reportedly returned to his homeland has been in Trinidad and Tobago for several years advising the Amateur Association on coaching programmes and has accompanied  national boxing teams to several overseas competitions. However Potts said he was never really comfortable with Martinez and thought that he never made a significant contribution to the national boxing stocks in terms of coaching. “I have always said that Martinez did not fully qualify to teach the technical aspects of coaching. While he was here he never unearthed any new talent so I regard him as a failure,” said Potts. “Now The Amateur Association has gone ahead and put in a request for another boxing coach from Cuba without consulting us, especially the North Trinidad boxing clubs,” said Potts.

He stressed that he is not against a Cuban coach coming here but is upset about the process the development has taken. ‘We cannot condone the dictatorial tendencies of the Amateur Boxing Association. We must stand up to them and let them know that we are part of an organisation and have a say. They can’t call a few South Trinidad clubs together in a secret meeting and make decisions that could affect the national boxers,” Potts said. He said that the Amateur Association need to get together with all the clubs and major stakeholders in the sport and find what what was needed to develop the sport and not make arbitrary decisions. “We need to find out what kind of help the Cubans can provide and whether we need it at this time,” said Potts. He vouched that Trinidad and Tobago possess a wealth of coaching talent that only needs to be recognised and harnessed to springboard the young boxers into regional champions.

“We must give the local coaches their just due and use their expertise and skill to build a strong foundation instead of running all over the place,” said Potts. He said another serious matter to be discused tomorrow will be the alleged mismanagement of funds during the last Caribbean Amateur Boxing Championships staged at the Jean Pierre Complex at Mucurapo. Potts charged that several questionable payments were made especially for transportation of the boxers and has asked the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs to conduct a thorough investigation into the financial transactions at the CABA Championships. “There must be transparency and accountability. Some things just do not look right. We will be pursuing this matter to the end since Government gave more than $500,000 for the championships and we were part of lobbying strongly for that money,” said Potts.