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Bermuda’s boxers will be challenging on two international fronts this month.

A team of the island’s top juniors will head to Trinidad for the Caribbean Amateur Boxing Association championships, where the island picked up three medals last year.

At the same time boxers from Police and Controversy Gym will head to London to take part in the English Police and Community Boxing Associations event.

Coach Quinton Mallory, who is training a three-man team for CABA, said he had hoped to take a team of 8-10 boxers to the event but the dates had been moved and it now clashed with the police trip.

But he said he expected the trio that were heading to Trinidad for the week-long competition, starting on June 22, to come back with some medals.

Ryan Lampano, the 16-year-old who won silver last year, Kieshen Trott, an Arizona Golden Gloves champion, and teenager Kenneth Williams make up the team.

“They’re doing pretty good,” said Mallory.

“Kieshen has had to work a bit more to get the time off to go, so I’m trying to fit his training in when I can. We need to get him sparring soon, that’s what’s lacking.

“I think they will all do well, though.”

He said the clash with the police tour meant boxers like heavyweight Josh Smith, Lloyd Peterkin and Kamel Dickinson could not take part.

“Next year we’re going to have a very strong team. We’ll make sure there is no clash and we’ll have all our top boxers at the event.”

He said there was a team competition up for grabs with boxers awarded points for performances.

But Bermuda would not be able to compete this year with teams like Trinidad & Tobago, which has a full complement of 14 boxers.

“Next year we’ll be able to compete for the team trophy as well.”

Craig Morfitt, president of the Police Boxing Association, said the police event had been planned for a year and it was impossible to alter it when the dates for CABA were changed.

But he said the event would guarantee the boxers would be matched with a fighter of similar experience and ability.

“We would never have booked the event to clash with CABA but they changed their dates. It should be good experience for the fighters and we should have a very well-prepared team for the event next year.”

The London event on June 30 is a sell out black-tie boxing night at the Chigwell Metropolitan Police Sports Club, and features amateurs from all over England.

He said: “I think getting away as part of a team is always a good experience. Some of them had their first overseas trip when we went to Cape Cod in April and they are looking forward to getting back into it.

“We are deliberately stepping up the programme and trying to get more trips and more fights.

“We’d been in a holding position for several years because there just weren’t that many boxers.

“But now we have brought back the black-tie event in October and we are starting to organize some overseas trips more are coming out to train.

Frustrating

“I think it was frustrating for some of the boxers to train all-year-round when there was just a couple of fights, now there is something going on every couple of months.”

Representing Police and Controversy Gym in London will be Josh Smith, Tafari Maxwell, Nathan Sorrentino, Asaph Rawlins, Reece Simpson, Lloyd Peterkin and Lee Maximchuck.

The Police Boxing Association is looking for three more fighters to make up a team of ten after Leo Richardson and Shammen Iqbal had to pull out because of the age requirements (competitiors must be under 33 in England) and Kamel Dickinson because of school commitments.

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