PHILIPSBURG—St. Maarten boxer Jean Clemon faced Carlos Mourinho Rodriguez Antonio in the first round of the first round of the American Boxing Confederation (AMBC) Continental Championships in Guayaquil, Ecuador.
Clemon lost the 110kg Super Heavy Weight Division match up. It was his first international fight.
Antonio, from Mexico, has been boxing since 2008. He has 17 matches under his belt with 12 wins. In Ecuador he went on to earn a silver medal.
This was a great experience for Jean and a big step for St. Maarten said trainer and president of the St. Maarten
National Boxing Federation Shawn “The Pitbull” Blair.
“We started working toward getting a boxer to the international level in 2016,” said Blair. The program was knocked down went Irma hit in 2017.
The program got back up off the canvas just in time for Covid to land another knock down blow. But this time a St. Maarten boxer made it into the international ring.
“We are working hard to build back the program,” said Blair.
“We have a school program for teens. We are trying to start back with our monthly bouts with the French side. We are planning to send boxers to Curacao for their competition May 28 and then in June will be the Dutch Championships the 25 to 26.
As St, Maarten has fielded a boxer at the AMBC level the local Boxing Federation can now attend and vote at the the International Boxing Congress that will be held in Turkey in May.
