Boxers Tianna Guy and Aaron Prince are set to be involved in a competitive Independence Cup tournament in the Dominican Republic from Wednesday that will fine-tune them for the coming Olympic qualifying tournaments.
Guy felt she got a raw deal at the recent Golden Belt Series in Morocco against Nayara Arroyo Rodriguez of Spain 3-2, but she hopes to rebound by following her preparation programme.
With the Independence Cup draw set to take place today, both fighters will play a wait-and-see game, with Guy focused on learning from her mistakes in the past.
"My mindset is to trust in the process and trust in the training because by me trusting in the training, I was able to give that performance I gave in Morocco. So it's just about building on that.
"Competition here is a bit stiffer and I know for sure that the number one girl in the region will be at this tournament, so it will be a good test for me to see how well I can adapt to the styles because you know every continent has a different boxing style."
She added, "That's where my mindset is right now, executing the game plan, executing on what I've learnt in training, fixing the mistakes I made in Morocco, seeing where I can do better, in terms of technique and tactics and allowing everything else to run its course."
Guy, a bronze medal winner at the Golden Belt Series in Mexico last year, has been at various camps, sometimes having to pay her own way, in an attempt to maximise on her Olympic dream. Following her loss in Morocco, Guy acknowledged she may have made a few mistakes.
"My main focus is making the punches more impactful or as they say in boxing, sitting down on the punches, and at the same time being very defensive-minded. So it's more or less attacking and not getting countered, as well as using my movements more because I have good movements, but it's just that sometimes I get so focused on attacking, that I forget the footwork and different movement that I have.
"So it's about mixing those three together, to get the perfect balance," Guy explained.
Prince who was among a number of boxers who were asked to miss the Golden Belt and Independence Cup tournaments due to the government's ability to come up with the funds in time took a last-minute decision to pay his own way, with the hope of being reimbursed afterwards.
He arrived in the Dominican Republic yesterday afternoon. Along with Guy, they will contest the Women's World Championships from March 13-26 in New Delhi, India; the Men's World Championships from May 1-14 in Uzbekistan, and the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in June.