The first six female boxers to fight outside of Cuba will do so during the V Games of the SUNRISE (Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America), to be held in Venezuela from April 21 to 29.
Reynabell Grant, in 50 kilograms; Lianet Gómez (60 kg), Arianne Imbert (66 kg), Yakelin Stornell (75 kg), Idamelis Moreno (54 kg) and Legnis Cala Maso (57 kg) will be the first to cross gloves in an international competition after the practice of boxing feminine was approved in Cubain December 2022.
Six Cuban boxers will fight in the Games of the #Sunrise
Four from Guantanamo and two from Havana will have the high honor of the international debut of Cuban women’s boxing. #Cuba #Boxing #MoreChallengesMoreCommitment https://t.co/cFmjnsNegP pic.twitter.com/dRacXQYC1W— JIT Cuban Sport (@jit_digital) April 1, 2023
“They are well prepared and they are going to put on a show. The objective is to assess their performance with a view to the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador 2023”, stated the main coach, Santiago Suárez, to the sports portal Hit.
The most experienced and seasoned of these representatives is Yakelin Stornell, who has competed as a wrestler in Pan-American events in which she won several medals, said the coach.
“I want to be a boxing champion. For that I will prepare. I’m going with everything”, said the boxer from Guantánamo, as well as three other attendees at the Alba Games.
A preselection of twelve fighters is preparing to represent the island in the Central American and Caribbean Games in El Salvador 2023, as part of the strategy to promote women’s boxing that will have its maximum expression in the Paris Olympic Games in 2024.
The Cuban Boxing Federation has announced that in November 2023 the first women’s national event will be held in the senior Olympic categories, in order to make it possible to register for the next Olympic event.
Almost 3,500 athletes from Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Saint Lucia, plus those from Venezuela and the guests from Russia.