T&T boxer Lisa Brown was among the world boxing champions presented with awards last week at the 89th World Boxing Association annual convention held in Managua, Nicaragua from November 21-27, in memory of deceased boxing champion Alexis Arguello. Brown, who won the WBA Female Boxer of the Year stood alongside boxing champions Super Welterweight champion Miguel Cotto and Roberto Duran. WBA president Francisco Gilberto Mendoza was conferred a honorary doctorate of humanities by the Universidad de Managua and honoured for his humanitarian efforts both in and out of boxing, most notably the WBA's KO Drugs tournaments.
T&T medical doctor, Calvin Inalsingh, WBA medical director, also received an award from the Mayor of Nicaragua, Daisy Torres for his long standing service to boxing. Dr Inalsingh who recently returned from meetings with the American Association of Ringside Physicians (AAPRP) proposed an affiliation between the WBA and the AAPRP, which is affiliated with the ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine), earmarking a new era in the health and safety of WBA boxers worldwide. Inalsingh was also asked by the WBA executive committee for an opinion on the ongoing controversy over WBA heavyweight Ruslan Chagaev who has hepatitis B+ status.
In an official release in the WBA News, Inalsingh, also WBA's medical advisory chairman, said that even if Chagaev's positive level was 1:1,000,000, he would advise against approving him to challenge for the WBA title, let alone fight anyone in the ring. The WBA vice chairman's initial decision had been that it was up to champion David Haye to make the request for testing on his challenger. Inalsingh's daughter Shivana, a clinical reflexologist and wellness coach, presented an interactive workshop on physical, mental and emotional preparation for ringside officials.