Barbados’ top promoter/trainer Sam Layne (second left) with boxers Miguel Antoine (left), Sean Cox (second right) and another member of his team after their success last Saturday night
Despite leaving Guyana with two World Boxing Council’s (WBC) Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE) championship belts at the weekend, Barbados’ top boxing promoter/trainer Sam Layne is disappointed with the lack of support from his country’s government for the sport.
Since the advent of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control’s (GBBC) Friday Night ProAm boxing card in February 2010, Layne and his team from the ‘Land of the Flying Fish’ have been travelling to Guyana to compete at the invitation of the local governing body.
They have earned quite a following in Guyana after the tremendous exploits by Heavyweight contender Shawn ‘The Sniper’ Cox and Super Lightweight Miguel ‘Hands of Stone’ Antoine, who have both enjoyed incredible success on the GBBC card.
Both pugilists are unbeaten against all Guyanese boxers they have been pitted against with the 37-year-old Cox boasting a record of 16 wins and one loss from 17 fights. Quite amazingly, Cox has won 15 of those fights via the knockout route, with nine of those victories coming in the first round.
The 24-year-old Antoine, on the other hand, has tasted success 17 times in 18 encounters with his other fight being a drawn encounter against Guyanese Jermin King.
Layne confessed that his boxers receive more support in Guyana as compared to Barbados.
In an invited comment last Saturday night Layne said he was peeved with the little support shown by the relevant authorities on the island. These comments were made after Cox scored a first round knockout victory over former cruiserweight world champion, Wayne ‘Big Truck’ Braithwaite, to lift the WBC CABOFE Heavyweight belt, and Antoine won on points against Barbados-based Guyanese Revlon Lake for the Super Lightweight title
“These guys (Cox and Antoine) have been training without sparring partners, but they’re dedicated to the art…we get absolutely no support in Barbados…we train out of a cricket pavillion,” Layne disclosed.
“As a matter of fact, we didn’t even get any support from our Ministry of Sport to come here. I had to get three loans from my friends and family to support this show, to get these guys here. So I’m very disappointed in my country, but there are a lot of people back home who are proud of us and who have supported us in the past, but they have to learn to stick with people who merit and deserve the credit and support. We deserve support, we’ve earned it and I hope by now it will open the eyes for them to see that Sean and Miguel are world-class fighters.”
With his boxers now set to represent the CABOFE region in the WBC 50th anniversary Cup of Champions, Layne is urging the government and corporate entities to rally behind the champions and not wait until the ‘moment of glory’ to jump on the bandwagon. He added that his team will up the training ahead of the Cup of Champions, which will see both boxers facing up to the best in the world in the two weight divisions.
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