Island resident and professional boxer, Geiboord Howard Omier Sandino has teamed up with Simon Herrera from California in the journey to establish a professional boxing league in Belize. The original idea was to have a gym in every district in order to push the project at a fast mode and reach out all corners of the country. Currently the first boxing gym has been completed and is operating in Punta Gorda Town, Toledo while they continue working to open other gyms throughout the country. However, at the moment, the duo is focusing on the kick off of the first formal boxing event in Belize, slated for September 2015.
According to Herrera, the league is looking at a 10 – month tournament with a boxing match every four weeks. “There are a lot of professional boxers in the country, like in Punta Gorda, Belize City and in Cayo. So we have planned a kickoff event in at the Novelo’s Convention Centre in Santa Elena Cayo on September 5th where we will showcase the talent of boxers from Belize and other countries, “said Herrera. He mentioned that the league will be shared between Cayo, Belmopan and Belize City and the tournament will be broadcasted live by Central Cable Vision.
The League of Champions will be sanctioning the events, and according to Herrera they will be using professional judges from Mexico until Belizean officials can be properly trained. He further noted that the league has been approved by a newly formed commission, following international standards for the sport.
“This is the beginning of the project and we are bringing professional personnel to be part of it. I have a grand vision and I believe in Belize we can make this sport well established and give the talented people the exposure they need. We have onboard some great Belizean trainers: Frank Martinez from Cayo Lions Den, and Clinton Tucker from Belize City Lions Den, both of these trainers have vast experience working with both amateur and professional boxers. So it is just a matter of putting every piece together and of course working together for the success of this venture. I mean who knows, maybe there might be a Belizean boxer that will be able to make a living from this sport and become an icon that can represent the country worldwide,” stated Herrera. He believes that with the proper training and marketing, Belize has a great chance to excel in such a sport, and at the same time he is very optimistic in making Belize the boxing capital. “With an established program, and given the different settings in Belize, we can for sure attract people from other countries, like Cuba and Mexico to come to Belize and do boxing,” he said.
Herrera plans to bring the boxing enthusiasm to San Pedro sometime in December of 2015, but it will all depend on the response the program receives after its inauguration. “We want to go countrywide and we ask everyone’s support as this is something good for the country. This initiative is starting in the Cayo District first, and then expanding to other parts of the country, since the idea is to have countywide tournaments. However, since we are working with Central Cable Vision to broadcast the matches, we will be holding the events within the areas where the cable company has coverage,” said Herrera.
Herrera has been involved in the sport of boxing for nearly 20 years. He fought as an amateur and has been an active trainer, manager, and promoter of the sport. He stresses that due to regulation and corruption in the United States and around the world, competitive boxing has never properly developed. Herrera claims that boxing is the only organized sport in the world that lacks any type of league or association. “So called federations and councils that do exist, are simply crony organizations with only interest of the few, not the majority of the sport. This is because of the overall corruption globally and it has been a challenge to get a properly structured organization off the ground,” Herrera continued, as he explained how he ended up coming to Belize, “I became aware of Belize when a Belizean friend of mine in Los Angeles, California, who is a huge boxing fan, told me the history of boxing in Belize. I began to do my research and realized that the opportunity to grow the sport in Belize would be exponential,” ended Herrera. He further indicated that both Honorable Herman Longsworth and Patrick Henry from the Ministry of Sports are aware of the project and fully support it.
When the program begins the tournaments will start at 6PM, featuring amateurs followed by the professional boxers once a month.
Anyone interested to know more about project, or even become a sponsor can contact the organizer Simon Herrera by calling at 602-4098 or via email at [email protected]
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