Boxing board president hoping for minimal COVID-19 fallout
PRESIDENT OF the Jamaica Boxing Board Stephen ‘Bomber’ Jones is hoping that the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) is not immense as he is looking to the possibility of Jamaica’s first Olympic boxing medal at the Tokyo Games.
The Games, which were set to start in July, have been postponed because of the pandemic and are now been rescheduled for July 23 to August 8, 2021. There have been more than 3.3 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide. More than 235,000 persons have died while over a million have recovered from the virus.
With all the uncertainty surrounding the Olympic qualifiers, which have been postponed, Jones said that they are now in wait-and-see mode. He is, however, cautiously optimistic that if some sort of normality returns by September, all should be well.
“Basically, all countries in this region have to wait until they get the go-ahead to have Olympic qualifiers. There were supposed to be two before the postponed Olympics, the first in
Argentina, which was set for March, and a second in France for those who didn’t qualify in the first. Both of those have been postponed and we haven’t yet been given new dates,” Jones said.
“With that being said, there still would have to be a qualification process months in advance for the Americas. If we are given a date, then the challenge will be for us to have our National Championships. The boxers that were qualified in January may have to, unfortunately, prove themselves again. The talent we are not short of, but mentally and physically, they will have to get back to a stage where they are internationally ready,” he added. “If September comes and we are able to have all activities, then I have no doubt we can get back to the stage where Jamaica will be fielding a good team for the Games.”
When asked about the impact COVID-19 has had on the sport locally, Jones said boxing was gaining some traction again among the public and that the virus, if it persist, could break that momentum. “In terms of the sport locally, my biggest fear would be if this broke our spirit. We believe that boxing can have a positive effect on society. When you look at the Gloves-over-Guns programme, the grass-roots programme and the development in communities, everybody had bought into the sport and was working in a cohesive manner,” Jones said. The boxing board boss is hoping that whatever happens, those in love with the sport will remain on board. “Our finances, in terms of pushing the sport forward are largely dependent on partners that we are able to get on board. We still bank on the Sports Development Foundation and the Jamaica Olympic Association, who we expect will pick up where we left off. Also, we have some companies that were entrenched in the communities like Lasco and the Doctor’s Cave Foundation and others that we have been staying in touch with,” Jones said.