Middleweight boxer Aaron Prince will carry the hopes for T&T at the first Olympic Boxing Qualifiers in Azzurri, Italy after two other fighters, Angel George and Ortega Jokhu, were beaten on Wednesday.
In both fights, the referees were called in to stop them. George, who battled early nerves in her 75kg encounter with Chantelle Reid of Great Britain, was knocked to the canvas in a minute and 30 seconds into the second round.
Coach and manager Reynold Cox said nerves got the better of her and she could not execute on the day.
"Too, besides that, the Great Britain boxer was a good fighter, being a youth and junior champion for her country," he said.
Cox's hopes were lifted ahead of the Jokhu and Kiaran McDonald's 51 kg contest. A normal 49kg fighter, Jokhu was forced to go up in weight as the Olympic Qualifiers did not feature action in the 49kg division.
Cox noted that the fact that Jokhu had to go up in weight meant that he was going to be up against stronger fighters.
In the ring, the Great Britain fighter stamped his superiority on the fight by knocking down his T&T opponent in the third round of a three-round bout. The loss followed earlier defeats for Tianna Guy, Jeremiah Thomas, and Donnell Phillip between Sunday and Tuesday night.
Prince, a qualifier at the virus-delayed 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, will go after his second win that will put him into the round of 16. Prince will take on Mal Maghsoudi Moslem of Iran today, a day after he got the better of Arena Pakela of Lesotho by unanimous decision.
Cox said he believes Prince can make it straight to the final but he must put his best foot forward.
"Right now I am watching videos of his opponent for today, as well as his other potential opponents. Right now, we have a plan going into today's (Thursday) bout because we need to beat him to face the others," Cox explained.
With just one more Olympic qualifier remaining in Bangkok, Thailand from May 23-27 before the Olympics in Paris, France later this year, Cox said a general assessment will have to be done on his charges to decide the boxers that will go to that tournament.
"At this time, nobody is guaranteed to go. We will have to decide based on their performances at this qualifier, who will be the boxers to get another try in Bangkok, along with Super Heavyweight fighter Nigel Paul, who could not make it to Italy because of injuries," Cox said.