High quality boxing gear handed over to Leopold Smart
Boxing is a longstanding sport discipline in Belize, but like with so many other disciplines, it is on life support because of a lack of resources. So a donation handed over today is indeed welcome. It’s the result of an effort by Belizeans in the Diaspora who have pooled their resources to assist sports in Belize. This morning Foreign Affairs Minister Wilfred Elrington handed over the high quality boxing gear to boxing trainer Leopold Smart in a brief ceremony held at the Samuel Haynes Institute of Excellence.
Wilfred Elrington, Handing over Equipment
Wilfred Elrington
“I was informed by our Honorary Consul in California, Mr. Roland York, that he had a donation of boxing gear and football gear to be sent to Belize to be delivered to different entities…the Smart Boxing Club, the Lion’s Den…the football is to be given to somebody else, and he has asked me to kindly deliver them to the beneficiaries.”
Leopold Smart, Boxing Trainer
“We need the equipment to get ahead in boxing. At least right in my gym we barely have equipment so thank god that we got this equipment from the Minister.”
Reporter
“Sir when we were listening to you before you were saying that one of the biggest problems you’ve had through the years is support. Tell us about that, and maybe you could use this opportunity to tell Belizeans how they could get more involved in boxing.”
Leopold Smart
Leopold Smart
“Well to get more involved in boxing…I really would like some younger guys to learn to train because I personally am getting older…I’m sixty-two years old now so to develop the sport we need people to learn to train, not only to box, so that they could maybe open their own gym. It is free for me, I train anybody for free, even the fighters…Smart Boxing Gym is for free. I don’t charge anybody to do that. But the thing I want to do is really get my ability out…to train people to represent us or to have a champion for Belize. I look at the TV all the time and I say damn…that is the thing I really want to do for Belize…somebody to be a champion or a world champion someday.”
The donation includes gloves, sparring gear, jump ropes and other assorted equipment.
