By Ravendra Kishore

Guyana’s junior welterweight boxer Akeem Alexander became the first of seven Guyanese boxers to reach the semi-finals of the Junior Caribbean Amateur Boxing Championships currently being held in Trinidad.

This was disclosed by president of the Guyana Amateur Boxing Association (GABA) Affeeze Khan, who in a telephone interview yesterday morning told Stabroek Sport that  the junior welterweight boxer Alexander had made it to the semis.

According to Khan the referee stopped the bout in the first minute of the fourth round  as Alexander’s  St. Lucian opponent Garfield John was on the receiving end of a battering.

Khan said John just kept hugging Alexander and  as a result the bout was called off.

Alexander has qualified for tonight’s semi-finals when the remaining boxers will all have their first taste of the ring.

The team in Trinidad and Tobago is being managed and coached by Carl Franklyn and consist of six males and one female.

The contingent, a small one compared to recent years. According to Franklyn, all the fights will take place from July 22-26 at the Chaguramas Convention Centre, catering for 11 divisions in the junior category and 13 divisions each in the cadet and female categories.

Guyana team is made up of junior Rondel Douglas, cadets Moonchan Sankar and Stefan Gouveia, juniors Herlando Allicock, Cleveland Rock and Akeem Alexander and lone female Mandessa Moses.

Meanwhile the affected Gaskin and Jackson sponsored National Open Boxing Championship which has been plagued by power outages will be completed this Saturday according to Khan as the competition will box off at three pm to ensure all of the remaining bouts are completed.