Boxing cruiserweight prospect Jaden Eccleston relinquished the Cayman Islands flag at his most recent competition; a decision he said was necessary.
“My coach Floyd [Trumpet] said we had to go to the championships; it doesn’t matter who we are fighting for, we just have to go,” Eccleston told the Cayman Compass.
Eccleston defeated Keith Demanyoh from Martinique last month at the Caribbean Boxing Championships to win gold for Jamaica, the same event Eccleston won gold fighting for Cayman two years prior.
The now 5-0 amateur boxer began his career under the Cayman Islands Boxing Association banner with Trumpet, who now coaches at the Performance Lab in George Town.
He said his first intention was to represent Cayman, the place he calls home, but that did not materialise for reasons he left vague.
“This is my home,” he said. “I’ve been living here for six years, and I’ve been coming here since I was a baby. My father lives here. He is Caymanian.
“The Jamaican Boxing Association gave me the opportunity to represent… and I’m happy for that, although it would’ve been good if I went for Cayman because I have been representing Cayman since the day I started boxing.”
Eccleston said he appreciates everything CIBA has done for his career to date. However, he noted that in recent years, apart from the hiatus due to the pandemic, the association was inactive in hosting events or sending its fighters to competitions – leading to his decision to jump ship.
“I’ve been waiting for a fight here, local fights, and I haven’t been hearing anything from anyone about any boxing matches coming up. CIBA has done a lot for me. I still train at their gym, but you know there’s been a lot of ups and downs and I had to make a decision.
“Maybe some people will think that it’s not the best decision, but when you’re training every day, sometimes twice a day, for over a year and not getting any competition, anyone would lose hope in their dreams, and I didn’t want that to happen to me.”
While Eccleston has taken the necessary steps to gain experience, he said that he will always be open to representing Cayman in the future.
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