By WALTER ALIBEY Thursday, January 17 2008

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Kirt Sinnette ...

The six-foot boxer Kirt Sinnette was one of 15 boxers to be displaced by the closure of the Roy Jones Boxing Gym situated near Colombus Square in Port-of-Spain.

Ysterday Sinnette’s trainer Michael Paul revealed that since the closure of the gym, Sinnette desperately needs a place to train.

Sinnette defeated Jamaican Carlton Bailey in his last fight on December 30 at the Eddie Hart Savannah in Tacarigua and is now scheduled to take on Barbadian Marcus Thomas in a non- title fight by mid-February.

And he told Newsday yesterday that he is hoping for a World Boxing Association (WBA) title fight to materialise. A date and time for the fight is expected to be announced soon.

According to Sinnette, international boxing promoter and match-maker Boxu Potts had approached him about the fight.

His opponent is expected to be an American fighter, still to be confirmed, and Sinnette noted the bout will be welcomed.

“The fighter that I am supposed to take on for this title is expected to fight in February and therefore I do not know what the situation is concerning that fight,” Sinnette told Newsday yesterday. Sinnette also revealed that he will likely enter the ring for another world title shot against another American boxer.

The title he said will be offered by the World Boxing Empire (WBE) and is due to take place in March.

Sinnette expressed the view that he was surprised that Minister of Sports Gary Hunt has not reacted to the closure of the gyms in Port-of-Spain.

The closure of the Roy Jones Boxing Gym followed eviction of the Revival Gym to accommodate construction of houses by the Housing Development Corporation (HDC).

The Roy Jones gym closed its doors because of an alleged increase in the rent fees from $1,000 to $4,500 monthly.

But it has since been given to boxing coach Neil Welch who has proposed to conduct a gym and a store. Sinnette has lost only one of his 14 professional bouts to date.