Over 100 boxers for National Boxing Champs from January 22-26

Over 100 boxers from varying age and weight divisions will battle for top honours when the 2025 National Boxing Championships punches off at the Southern Regional Indoor Sporting Arena in Pleasantville from January 22-26.

Clubs are currently finalising registration of athletes ahead of the January 18 deadline, before the final draw is made at a technical meeting the next day.

The championships feature bouts in all categories, from schoolboy to elite. From January 22-24, there will be evening sessions only, two sessions on the penultimate day and, either one lengthy session or a double session, on the final day.

After the five-day tournament, TT Boxing Association (TTBA) president Cecil Forde said freshly-crowned national champions would be the number one pick for national team selection. Once chosen, they would have to join the national programme, and go from there.

If the division winners are unable to join the programme, the silver medallists will serve as a backup option.

Those selected to the national team then travel to Puerto Rico approximately one month later, for a possible one-year, live-in camp there, once available.

Forde said the Puerto Rico camp, which would also feature Colombian and other South American nations, provides TT boxers with added competition and more opportunity to develop.

This year, the TTBA will place focus on youth and elite development. The February Caribbean Boxing Championships in St Lucia is also an event Forde is looking forward to featuring some of the nation’s top boxers.

The seniors, he said, will use this year to ramp up preparations for the 2026 Caribbean and Central American Championships and Commonwealth Games.

In 2027, the TTBA is targeting podium performances at the Pan Am Games and competing in Olympic qualifiers.

This year marks the start of TT’s four-year Olympic cycle ahead of the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, USA.