The Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) and two ranked newcomers highlighted the 2017 National Amateur Boxing Championships, with sterling performances in the three-day event held at the Stanley Couch Gym on Victoria Avenue, downtown Kingston, last week.

The championships, that were held from Thursday through Saturday with finals held on the last day, saw the JDF Boxing Gym defeating reigning champions Bruising Gym to claim the Overall Team title.

Newcomer female boxer, Tenesha James from Stanley Couch defeated the reigning Caribbean and national champion Keron Thomas in the bantamweight class. On the male side, schoolboy Josimar Mitton won the Novice Boxer title after displaying unusually good skills in the sport at the entry level.

Kevin Stupart, an AIBA referee and a member of the organising committee, declared at the end of the Championships that “the committee headed by Kingsley Goodison, organiser of the championships, was quite heartened by the spirit displayed by the athletes”.

“The overall championship itself unearthed some of its most courageous and engaging performers for some time now among the cadre of young and enthusiastic boxers who took part,” Stupart said.

The event featured 10 boxing gyms and 66 fighters competing for the Champion Team title held by Bruising Gym, which is owned and operated by Carl Grant, the only three-star AIBA boxing coach in Jamaica.

JDF Boxing Gym accumulated 47 points for victory, while Stanley Couch Gym, managed by Richard “Shrimpy” Clarke, the former Jamaican flyweight and super flyweight boxer of the 1980s and 1990s, was second with 31 points. Bruising Gym finished third on 21 points.

Two events that were among the highlights on the final night were the clashes between the two female boxers. In those contests, Tenesha James from the Stanley Couch Gym defeated the reigning Caribbean champion Keron Thomas in the bantamweight class and Lisa Frazer from the JDF Gym got the better of Felicia Groves of Bruising Gym.

In the battle between Thomas and the newcomer James, Thomas fought gallantly to hang on to her Jamaican title, but her Stanley Couch opponent was just as game, and in the end, gained a popular decision. She was later adjudged the Most Outstanding Female Boxer.

In another surprise of the evening, Frazer outmanoeuvred Groves in a stormy encounter where both fighters stood toe-to-toe, neither backing up an inch, in a very entertaining bout.

On the male side, schoolboy Josimar Mitton of St Thomas has been adjudged the Most Outstanding Novice, and earned the title by outscoring Chanderpaul Reid from the GC Foster Gym four points to two on the final night. Mitton is a student at the St Thomas Technical High School.

Marvin Shea of the JDF Gym was another impressive performer at the finals who copped the Most Outstanding Open Class title. He also copped the overall Dicky Crawford Trophy for his brilliant counter-attacking and defensive techniques. His Coach Gilbert Vaz walked away with the Most Outstanding Coach trophy.

Team Placings

1. JDF (47 Points)

2. Stanley (31 Points)

3. Bruising (21 Points)

4. St Thomas (18 Points)

5. GC Foster (15 Points)

6. Oracabessa (9 Points)

7. Heavy Metal (5 Points)

8. Academy (4 Points)

9. Boys Town (3 Points)

10. Sugar Knockout (2 Points)

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