By Iva Wharton
At 14, Euleen DaSilva has dreams of following in the footsteps of her aunt, former world champion Gwendolyn O’Neil.
DaSilva, in an interview with Stabroek Sport at the Andrew ‘Six Heads’ Lewis gym where she is in training, said she first approached her aunt for training.
“I asked her if she could teach me to box and she said no, because she lives in America. After then, she called me back and told me that she would put me on to one of her coaches,” the teenager recounted.
The coach is none other than Lennox `Cappell’ Daniels, who said that the teen has the will to become a champion.
She said that she has never seen her aunt fight but has been following her career via the newspapers.
“She seems to be interested and that is the most important thing. She travels all the way from Kuru Kuru and when you find anybody with that kind of dedication you try to help them,” said the experienced Daniels.
“What I noticed too is that she is learning fast, which is very important,” he added.
Daniels said that he is not sure when DaSilva will enter the ring for her first fight, but said that she has to satisfy his criteria.
“You see with my system, you have to learn the fundamentals. The fundamentals are not just coming and cuff bag, skip and learn to step, but there are basic things you have to know,” he said.
He said that when he is satisfied that she has mastered the fundamentals she will enter the ring.
DaSilva, who lives at Kuru Kuru on the Linden-Soesdyke Highway, said that she travels to the city Mondays to Fridays for training.
“I get here at 3 o’clock. School finishes at 2:30 pm, but I leave school before because my teacher allows me to leave and I take the bus and then come down.”
According to her, she is in training for an hour and a half and then she leaves for home. The teen said that it is her love for the sport that sees her travelling the long distance to train.
The plan, according to her, is to gain as much experience at the amateur level and then professionally in order to give her the chance to become a World champion.
The training routine, she said, is not new to her as her brother, Leroy DaSilva, a former amateur boxer took her through the paces.
“I used to do leg practice, exercise, run, jump and so on. So when I come to gym is nothing hard.”
When we spoke to DaSilva, she was about to do weight training after moving from shadow boxing.
DaSilva said that since entering the gym, she has not been involved in any schoolyard brawls, as her fellow students are afraid her. “Boys, girls everybody is afraid of me,” she said.
She also said that although she has not been lectured to regarding her responsibility as a boxer when it comes to discipline, she understands.
DaSilva said she has no intentions of getting into any fights since she understands the injuries she can inflict on a fellow student.
She added that she also recognizes the sacrifices she has to make if she is going to become a World champion, but according to her, she is prepared for the long haul.
She said that since her training commenced, she has had the support of her family, especially her brother, Leroy. Her other siblings, she said, are not interested in the sport as they see it as being too rough, but she loves it.
