World champs to get belts

But it would not be from the Women’s International Boxing Council (WIBC) who initially sanctioned the contests which featured boxers from the Trinidad and Tobago, United States, and Guyana.

Instead the four champions— Lisa "Bad News" Brown, Iva Weston, Giselle Salandy, Pamela London of Guyana and Tereza Perozzi of Bermuda will be given world recognition by the North American Boxing Council (NABC).

The announcement was made by Ed Hutchison, president of the NABC who has stepped into the row between Trinidad and Tobago promoter Buxo Potts and the president of the WIBC, Don "Moose" Lewis.

Disagreement between the parties concerning payment for the world championship belts and sanctioning fees prevented the victorious boxers from collecting their awards on the night of the card at the Jean Pierre Complex, Mucurapo.

This left the newly crowned women champions very angry and despite the pleadings of Potts, Lewis did not relent and left Trinidad and Tobago the following day with the belts.

However on hearing of what happened on September 23 Hutchison immediately moved to give the boxers the recognition he said they deserved.

"Regardless of the facts about disputes outside the ring, those are still disputes outside the ring. Failing to honour the personal courage, sacrifice and accomplishment of professional fighters who put everything on the line and did everything asked of them is unacceptable," Hutchison said in a statement posted on the NABC website.

The NABC president stated that effective immediately the following boxers will be recognised as NABC world champs: Brown (super bantamweight); Salandy (lightweight); London (heavyweight); Weston (welterweight); and Perozzi (middleweight).

"The accomplishment of each of these brave athletes is not in dispute. Neither is their status as champions," Hutchison stated.

He said that boxers put their personal safety and professional careers on the line in the championship bouts for themselves, their fans and the sport of boxing.

"Unlike most winners of championship contests, however, their championships were declared ‘not valid’ and they were left with no recognition," the NABC president said.

Hutchison acknowledged that the bouts were certified by the Trinidad and Tobago Boxing Board of Control, the governing body which officiates and supervises all professional boxing in Trinidad and Tobago.

Yesterday Potts said that he was very happy with the news which vindicates his involvement in the whole episode.

He said he met with the Boxing Board of Control on Wednesday and explained his side of the story and came away with the feeling that he has been cleared of any culpability in the affair for which he was blamed.

He said he expected the Boxing Board to communicate their finding on the row to the Association of Boxing Commissioners (ABC) in the US for their action against Lewis. Potts said he will pursue legal action against the American to recover more than US $9,000 he said he paid for the belts and WIBC sanction fees.

He also stated emphatically that the card, despite the minor problem with Lewis was a success and that all the state organisations who participated through funding and support were happy with the outcome.

"Never before in the history of boxing were five women fighters crowned world champions and it happened here. And of the five, we had three from Trinidad and Tobago. That is historic," Potts said.

He expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs and their Director of Sport Paul Newallo; the Tourism Development Company, Hi-Lo, Blue Mountain Water, Jimmy The Textile King and the other companies who helped make the presentation successful.