By DENEZ JONES, NG Sports Reporter

denez@nasguard.com

Three local boxers will be heading to the Turks & Caicos Islands in one week to participate in its 1st Invitational Boxing Tournament. Other countries from the region like the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica are also expected to have fighters participating in the event, which will run from September 7-10.

According to Amateur Boxing Federation of The Bahamas (ABFB) President, Wellington Miller, Turks & Caicos coach, Gary Lightbourne, has been trying to establish a federation of their own in that nation for little over a year now. This event will help to establish them within the region. "Now he's started his boxing camp, and next weekend, he is holding his first tournament. The Bahamas is proud to have been invited," said Miller.

The team heading to the Turks & Caicos includes Caribbean Amateur Boxing Association's (CABA) heavyweight champion, James McKenzie, middleweight, Tameko Dorsette and light welterweight, Shamaalye Lightbourne. National team Head Coach, Andre Seymour, is also expected to host a coaching clinic during the event.

According to Miller, the ABFB is also assisting coach Lightbourne and other Turks Islander boxing officials to "set up their association." He said that they've already looked at what possibilities there could be for future networking.

"This will be a great thing because when the association is established down there, we'll have boxing in Inagua again," Miller informed. "We can take boxers down to Inagua and invite the Turks Islanders there, because that's a close point. A lot of Inaguans have roots in Turks Island, so we'll be more than happy to work with them," said Miller.

As far as amateur boxing is concerned locally, Miller said that a meeting with the senior boxers was recently held to inform them of plans leading up to the Olympics in 2008. The national team's next international competition will be in November, where they'll participate in the Ramon Championships in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

"Then after that, we have three elimination bouts for the Pan American Games next year. One is starting in January in Mexico. In February, there will be one in Venezuela, then we will go to Argentina in March," said Miller. If the ABFB boxers can come away with a medal of any kind in the first tournament, then they'll qualify for the Pan Am Games.

"The federation will do its best to [ensure] that the boxers have all the proper training and funds to train properly abroad," Miller noted. "We will attend those tournaments until we get a boxer qualified for the Pan Am Games, and from there, it's on to the Olympics," he added.