St. Maarten National Boxing Federation President Shawn Blair
PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten National Boxing Federation President Shawn Blair has taken note of the “You Got Skills” Boxing Clinic press release issued by Better Opportunity for Talent (BOFT) Foundation under President Milton Bobby Ottley, and issued this statement.
“We, as the Federation, cannot speak for or comment on what Mr. Ottley is doing with his programme, we can only talk about what we are doing and our plans for the sport of amateur boxing,” said Blair. “We are the recognised body locally, regionally and internationally.
“In that context, application for licences mentioned in their release, if they are amateur licences, must go through the Federation. Other than that, the St. Maarten Amateur Boxing Association or BOFT can do whatever they want. We have no affiliation or control over them. The only thing is, when it comes to dealing with the international part – for example, when international boxers are coming here – we have the authority.”
Blair said the St. Maarten Amateur Boxing Association just recently wrote a letter requesting to become an associate member of the St. Maarten National Boxing Federation. “That request will be referred to the board for a decision,” he said.
He said the main aim of the Federation is to take care of the youth of St. Maarten, getting them off the streets and off the blocks.
“The reason we formed the Federation is to give opportunities to young people and since we formed a body we have seen a big improvement in boxing. We became an international member of the governing body and full member of the Caribbean boxing family. We are currently working on a programme, the slogan for which is ‘Hands in Gloves, not on Guns,’ and want to develop that through the whole region.
“What BOFT is talking about, we were already working on upgrading the status of boxing in terms of training and getting coaches. We already talked about boxing in the districts, we just didn’t get to the right people to get everyone involved in making it happen.
“For us, if anybody wants to do anything with boxing, they can go right ahead. It’s all good for boxing. I don’t own the sport of amateur boxing. All we did was keep it alive. When you see these other associations springing up, it’s because of what we have done. We are there to make things happen for the youth and that’s our goal. Our responsibility to the wider Caribbean family is to make sure that whatever we are doing is done in the right way with the right people according to the rules and regulations.”
