Recovering Michael Alexander backs boxer Aaron Prince to shine, rues Olympic absence

RECOVERING NATIONAL boxer Michael Alexander has sent well wishes to countryman and training partner Aaron Prince, who makes his Olympic debut at the Kokogikan Arena in Japan on Monday.

Alexander, who is still recuperating from a January 27 motorcycle accident, which ended his Olympic dream, hopes his fellow boxer can put on a good performance in his opening bout.

Prince springs into action in the men’s middleweight (69-75kg) division against Slovakia’s Andrej Csemez at 12:24am on Monday in the round of 32.

“I’m supporting him 110 per cent," Alexander said.

The 28-year-old rued his Olympic absence but backs Prince to “put in the extra work and do well in his fight.

“It’s very painful that I cannot be there to support my teammates and friends from other sporting disciplines. It’s hurtful for me but I’m rooting for them all.”

Prior to Prince’s qualification to Tokyo, he had not competed in a major fight in several months. Owing to the pandemic and the cancellation of the Americas leg of the Olympic qualifiers in Argentina (May 2020), the World Boxing Association set up a task force to assess individuals by the current regional rankings.

Prince made the cut for Team TTO after three boxers in the Pan American middleweight division left the category. This elevated Prince up the rankings from seventh to fourth, which was just enough for him to earn Olympic qualification.

Before Alexander’s accident six months ago, he was favoured to automatically qualify for the Summer Games because of his high rank within the Pan American region.

He has fully recovered from the majority of his injuries.

“My rehabilitation is coming along nicely. I still cannot move my left arm a bit because my nerves are still healing up. My hand is still in the sling so I still am not back to 100 per cent.

“They (doctors) agreed that my healing process is going very well and I can feel that. Some of the pain that I got previously is fading out now. Therapy is helping a lot and I’m happy with how far I’ve come since the accident.”

Alexander also sustained a punctured lung, broken rib among a number of other injuries stemming from the accident. Although the road to full recovery is still a long one for the pugilist, Alexander remains confident of returning into the ring.

“My plan is to bounce back from this. I will show people that I can be an even better boxer when I return,” he said.

Alexander noted that he is still in need of some financial assistance to have a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) done. He said his funds have been depleted as costly therapy sessions, medication and other items are part of his recovery.

“I would really like to see some more support towards athletes on the whole. Support needs to be given, especially to athletes in my position.”

Alexander bagged bronze at the 2013 Pan American Championships, 2014 Commonwealth Games and Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games. He then boxed to silver at the 2018 CAC Games and then secured another bronze at the Pan American Games in 2019.