24/09/2018 – The President of the Jamaica Boxing Board of Control (JBBC), Stephen Jones, has launched new plans for community-based boxing tournaments, in partnership with Fight for Peace. Mr Jones also announced a grant of US$300,000 for the Caribbean region from the International Boxing Association (AIBA).

The AIBA funds are destined for the development of boxers, coaches, referees, judges, ringside doctors and cutmen, while the funds will also be used for the staging of the Caribbean Championships, as well as JBBC hosted community boxing tournaments – beginning in the Denham Town and Montego Bay communities later this year.

Through the Safer Communities Programme, Fight for Peace has been working on the ground in Kingston, Jamaica since 2015, using collective impact methodology to integrate multiple services to tackle youth violence in communities where capacity and resources are scarce.

Know locally as Unity and Peace (UP), the Fight for Peace coordinated programme runs in six communities and impacted over 1,000 adults and young people in 2017 alone. This number includes some one hundred and fifty young people participating in boxing programmes, of whom one, Kerone Thomas, is a Caribbean champion.

Reacting to the announcement, Fight for Peace Jamaica Country Lead, Kellie Magnus said: “The boxing tournament series is a huge win for our network, our young people get to compete, our communities host an event that can drive engagement and our partner, the Jamaica Boxing Board of Control strengthens the youth boxing platform that will secure the sport’s growth in Jamaica.”