Boxer Carlos Suarez, a part-time barber and rapper, had praises showered upon him when the Sports Company of T&T held a welcome reception in honour of his qualification for the 2012 London Olympic Games. The event was held at the VIP Lounge at the Hasely Crawford Stadium in Mucurapo. Suarez, 18, will be the second boxer to represent T&T at the Olympic Games after Kirt Sinnette, who participated at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. The US-born boxer qualified for the Olympics as the bronze medallist from the Olympic Qualifiers of the Americas, which ended on Saturday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Ohio, USA resident, who recently qualified to fight for T&T by virtue of having a Trinidadian mother, finished 11th at the 2011 American Olympic trials, then decided to represent T&T. Suarez was no match for Puerto Rico’s Jantony Ortiz when the two fought in the semifinals, which was the final qualifier in the Americas region. Ortiz did the T&T fighter a favour when beating Ecuadorian Carlos Quipo, to win the gold medal.
The rules of the International Amateur Boxing Association gives Suarez the bronze medal, having fought Ortiz at the semifinal stage. Speaking at the reception, special adviser to T&T Boxing Board of Control Buxo Potts said: “It’s a great dream come true when I got this job. I made a statement that I would like to qualify a boxer to the Olympics and win a medal at the Olympics. I have won numerous world titles and it feels good to win these titles. “Boxing in Olympics is a stepping stone in the world of boxing. It’s a stepping stone before the world title but at the same time there is more attention of the world looking on at the Olympics than the world title even though the world title is more money. “I feel very good for the team and am proud of my county’s achievements regarding this qualification.”
Potts further explained the process in which he came across in finding Suarez. He said, “When I came into the boxing Cecil Forde and I spoke, I said to him that our amateur team needs people mentally aggressive and we started searching and we found Lawrence Singh and then Carlos Suarez surfaced and both were interested in representing T&T rather than the USA.” Suarez told the gathering that he was very proud to represent T&T and thank those responsible for bringing him to T&T. “I have been here on three occasions before on vacation. I wasn’t planning on going to college. I am planning to focus on boxing. “I also like music, barbering and rapping. It’s a great feeling to actually accomplish this after so many years.” Suarez, an 11-year amateur veteran with over 100 fights which includes 30 knockouts, shared that he’s now focusing on getting to the medal round when he arrives in London in July.
Source: www.guardian.co.tt
By Liam Gordon