Brown for Olympic trials in Asia

Jamaica Boxing Board general secretary, Leroy Brown, has been selected by the International Boxing Association (AIBA), to be one of the International Technical Officials at the Asian Olympic Qualifying tournament to be held in Astana, Kazakhstan, from April 4-13.

Brown, who is a former Olympic boxing judge, is one of the 13 International Technical Officials in the Americas, and is the only Caribbean boxing official with this qualification. He also officiated at the Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico last October.

On receiving news of the invitation, Brown said that it was a great honour for him to be selected for this major assignment and accepted that it will be a challenging one. "The Asian continent is a large and diverse one," he said. "There is no doubt that the competition will be keen, because the boxers from the various territories will be competing for the only 25 places that remain. Twenty-eight places were already awarded to competitors from Asia, in the Baku tournament."

At the Asian tournament, only the gold medal winner in four of the divisions will make it to the Olympics. In the other weight classes a boxer has to make it to the semi-finals of the tournament to qualify for the Games.

Similar qualifying tournaments for men will be held in Africa, the Americas, Oceania, and Europe. The qualifying tournament for women will be held in Qinhuangdao, China, in May.