HE ISN’T SAYING “I told you I so” as yet.
Probably only because Christopher “Shaka” Henry doesn’t deem it necessary.
The performance of the Bajan lasses at the just concluded AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships more than spoke for itself, at least according to Henry, who feels justified in his belief that the local pugilists would’ve done better had they boxed for their spots.
It follows Henry’s public spat with national coach Gary Bowen, in which the former professional fighter contented that none of the female boxers he trained were given a chance to fight for a place on the World Championships team.
Kids vs veterans
Just one of the four hometown girls went the distance in her opening bout, but Molissa Narine failed to score a point in four rounds, while her sister Gheeta Narine, and Jenny Benedict had their contests stopped in the second and first round respectively.
“You’re taking people’s kids and putting them in there against veterans but it’s not a game out there, it’s a war. It’s a war in the ring and that’s how the Americans come looking at it,” said Henry.
“I’ve heard Mrs [Joyce] Bowen [president of the Amateur Boxing Association of Barbados] say before that they don’t like putting their kids to go against each other [but] that’s the only way a country can select its best. If you don’t do that, you will never get the best from your athletes.”
But Henry’s criticism isn’t being levelled at the boxers, as he reasoned that the four were raw and clearly lacked the proper tutelage to challenge veteran fighters.
“If you look, none of them had defence,” posited Henry, who was also upset at not being allowed to assist the local girls in their training.
“Some of the other girls [from other countries] were putting their hands up and just walking right in and taking shots on the hands . . . on their defence.”
Inexperienced
“[But] really and truly the Bajan girls were inexperienced, and with the proper tutoring I believe they could have done a little better.
“I don’t mind if you don’t win as long as you are doing the correct things,” he added.
Gary Bowen had earlier contended that Henry was ineligible to train amateurs as a professional promoter, though the latter claimed never to have even applied for a promoter’s licence.
Talent
Despite the subpar performances, though, Henry believes that Barbados has a lot of talent to work with in women’s amateur boxing, but it would call for some added manpower outside of the national coach.
“It’s impossible for one person to do all that work,” Henry reasoned.
“I think the [National] Sports Council should add another trainer or two because you have a lot of talent in the island. I could see a lot of areas that could be worked on with the girls,”
Calls to coach Bowen were not returned by press time.
