Boxing-Nicette, Allisop fight in Dan Pozniak Cup |05 March 2010

Allisop will fight in the 57kg (featherweight) category and Nicette in the 54kg (bantamweight) division.

Seychelles was invited by the daughter of the late Dan Pozniak to compete in the cup and was given five places, but the Seychelles Amateur Boxing Federation (SABF) could only send two fighters because of the high cost of airfares.

The SABF paid for Allisop’s and coach Rival Payet’s airfares, while the Seychelles OIympic and Commonwealth Games Association took care of Nicette’s expenses under the Youth Olympic Games programme.

Nicette has received a wild card to compete in the first Youth Olympic Games scheduled for August 14-26 in Singapore.

Before competing in the Youth Olympic Games, young fist-fighter Nicette will take part in the inaugural Aiba (International Boxing Association) World Youth Boxing Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan, from April 14-25.

Fighters from over 50 countries are expected to take part in the championship, to be contested in under-17 and under-18 age categories.

Russian boxing coach Dan Pozniak died in his native country on February 3, 2005.

He was the second Russian coach to work here and was instrumental in guiding now retired Seychellois boxers like Ralph Labrosse, Rival Cadeau (now Payet), Jerry Legras and Roland Raforme to become champions.

One of five Russian boxing coaches to have worked here, Pozniak, a light heavyweight Olympic Games gold medallist in Mexico City in 1968, came to Seychelles in 1983 and spent five years here.

The first Russian coach to arrive here was Vladimir Nveski in 1980, and he came a month before the Seychelles team left for the Olympic Games in Moscow, USSR.

Then came Stanislav Stepashkin, featherweight Olympic Games gold medallist in Tokyo in 1964, Vladimir Simonov and Oleg Kouzmin.

G. G.