Taking the sport of boxing into a new era

by Stephen Ignacio, Photos by Johnny Bujega

Just as Kaelan Joyce, representing the Gibraltar Boxing Association was to tell this newspaper, Gibraltar boxers were to feed off the crowd on Saturday as they took on a development side from Ireland.
This, the first boxing event in a number of years on local soil, saw the GBA successfully host an event which was attended by some one thousand spectators. The queues to enter the Tercentenary Sports Hall weaving around Bayside Road past the World Trade Centre as Gibraltar once again rose to support its local boxers.
They were not to be disappointed. Although the event was a development event with some novice boxers coming onto the ring for the first time, Gibraltar was to rise to celebrate an overall win, a retirement as Daniel Hyde-Gomes announced he would be retiring just before the event, and new faces to look out for in the future, as well as some better known faces making their mark such as the Montegriffos.
The crowd were treated to several exhibition bouts before seeing Jack Houston taking on Moises. Houston celebrating lifting his trophy at the end of the bout.
There was also success for Jaylan Duo and Julian Azzopardi.
With both Evan Montegriffo and Driss Montegriffo getting the crowds rising.
Hyde-Gomes ending his days on the ring celebrating.
The event was however, not so much about the achievements on the ring but rather the development of the support into the future. This being a chance to provide boxers with an opportunity to display their skills in front of their home crowd, and bring the sport to the forefront. Alongside recent restrictions, as well as the progress in development of boxers the gap Gibraltar not having seen much in terms of boxing at the forefront, but the hunger for the sport not having waned in the slightest among its many supporters.
Prior to the event we had a chance to speak to Kaylean Joyce, representing the Gibraltar Boxing Association, to find out what was ahead for the sport.

This is the first official international event organised by the Gibraltar Boxing Association for a number of years. How significant is it for the association and its future development?
Kaelan Joyce - GBA would like to clarify that this wasn’t an actual ‘international competition’ as most of our boxers were just novices, many having their first bouts. The Event was more about developing our current set of boxers and bringing boxing back to the rock.
Being able to box in Gibraltar again is a massive step in the right direction. Ultimately everyone benefits when we can host events locally not just our boxers but also local companies, charities, and organisations. Keep it local!

The event will be one which comes under the official banner of the GBA, and as such is an official event governed by the relevant sports regulations, with the safeguards provided by such governing bodies. How important is it that this event is focused on the sport rather than, as we have seen with so many boxing events, on the money?
Kaelan Joyce - GBA are members of the World (IBA) and European (EUBC) official and established amateur boxing bodies, therefore we need to adhere to their established safeguarding and medical requirements just like England Boxing would do for example. Additionally, we also need to adhere to local requirements specific to events.
The public tend to struggle understanding the difference between professional and amateur boxing. Professional Boxing is about making money, Amateur Boxing should be about the development of Sport. We state ‘should be’ as not everyone does this.
GBA uses funds raised during events to cover costs for the actual events themselves and to further develop the sport locally (e.g. equipment, trips abroad). We also have a long-standing tradition of making large donations to local charities, this time Gibraltar Cancer Relief will be receiving such a donation. The charity was also present at our last event auctioning items via a raffle.

For some, if not all, boxers this will be their first chance at competing in the ring in front of the home crowd. First of all, how did the selection process come about and how long have they been preparing for this event?
Kaelan Joyce - I personally do the matchmaking so I know it can be a complicated process at times especially for ‘first timers’ with no experience. There must be an element of trust and unfortunately, we have been misled at times.
Furthermore, boxing can be an unpredictable sport, so even seemingly fair matchups can turn into a one-sided affair and admittedly we also do get it wrong sometimes. On most occasions though we do get things right and those we deal with tend to deliver on our expectations. At our last event we had very few mismatches for example, many even fights that could have gone either way.
We have been preparing for this event for months and had a lot of support from the GSLA (Gibraltar Sports & Leisure Authority), which we would like to thank. Not everyone we dealt with from the Government was as supportive though.

Secondly, what are the expectations of the association as you take on Ireland (Clovers) who I assume you might have limited information on?
Kaelan Joyce - Our key expectation from any clubs\boxers coming over is to ensure that they come from a licenced, regulated, and recognised association. For example, we recently had a call with the CEO of England Boxing who mentioned having issues with the UK Boxing Alliance, which they consider to be an unregulated and unlicensed entity. Boxing can be a dangerous sport, just like any other contact sport so GBA’s aim is to ensure all local boxing is regulated and safe.
On this specific occasion I was dealing directly with a Senior Official from the Irish Boxing Athletic Association (also an IBA Official), who kept me updated at all times and sent over official documents including a formal letter from their association, insurance\medical cover and official documentation for each of the boxers (cards, passports etc).
GBA has always done their ‘homework’ on those we deal with and technology has just made it easier to make these checks. Also worth noting that Ireland is part of IBA and the EUBC, just like GBA.

Its been a number of years since the last event hosted locally, however, the association continues to produce boxers from a young age. How do you hope to continue developing into the future, and what do you think the event will do to help promote the sport further?
Kaelan Joyce - We will continue doing what we always have been doing, developing the sport locally for the benefit of the community.
The event will most definitely help promote the sport locally and hopefully give Gibraltar a good name internationally. Our Irish Guests have already praised GBA for being great hosts, the feedback has been very positive so far, and we are hoping the ‘word spreads’ and more associations reach out to us.

Its been an age old debate issue which has seen boxing questioned on whether it should be supported or not due to its very character. However, as we have seen boxing is here and is here to stay. But nonetheless with the questions over concussion which are today being debated how does the sport, and in particular a governing body such as your own develop and work around this latter key issue (concussion) which now seems to be the focal point in all sports?
Kaelan Joyce - We are not medical experts and will not pretend to be ones, all we can do is try our best to ensure that the sport is practised as safely as possible. This is why it is so important to GBA that any clubs or/and associations we deal with are regulated, licensed, and recognised by the official bodies in their country of origin.
Furthermore, at our latest event we had doctors (including a surgeon at the venue, another on standby), paramedics, St John Ambulance volunteers and two ambulances (one privately hired). We take the safety of all event boxers extremely seriously and will take all the precautions required to ensure that any accidents can be adequately dealt with.

Gibraltar boxing has produced many significant sportspeople, if you were ask what is the one key thing the sport provides for athletes to succeed what would you say it was?
Kaelan Joyce - We have a very good school of boxing; Mr Ernest Victory MBE has been recognised by both the World and European governing bodies of boxing with official accolades due this. He was also given an MBE by the Queen.
Additionally, there must be something in the ‘water’ because it is simply surreal how many good boxers Gibraltar has produced. I would say locals are very dedicated and don’t like losing, a great combination for combat sport athletes.

How important is it for the GBA and your team to have the support of their home crowd on April 20th?
Kaelan Joyce - Extremely important, local boxers will feed off the crowds.

Where next for the GBA after this? Are there any plans for further events locally or for boxers to go abroad in maybe a return match in Ireland?
Kaelan Joyce - We are planning a trip to Ireland in the winter and hopefully looking to compete in international tournaments going forward. We get regular invites to attend formal tournaments, but our boxers have not had the experience required to attend these during recent years, hopefully going forward they will.
GBA also intend to carry on doing local events and entertaining local crowds, whilst donating to local charities. We are a pro bono, nonprofit organisation that is recognised by the official World and European Amateur Boxing bodies and we intend to keep representing Gibraltar proudly via these established, official, and regulated platforms.

Some of the images from this Saturday's event. (More photographs will be available in both Thursday and Friday's print edition)