Youth Boxing Fundraiser A Success!

The youth boxing fundraiser held January 22, 2022 at Tequila Republic was a smashing success! Almost all of the t-shirts were sold, the knockout punch beverage was a hit and with all the sales and donations together: $2,897 was raised, very close to our $3,000 goal.

All proceeds go to benefit the trip expenses for Aldair Salazar (AKA Chino) and his trainer Kicho on their journey to compete in an international tournament next month in the Dominican Republic with Panama’s national boxing team. The fundraising efforts will also benefit the Los Tiburones de Isla Colon youth boxing school in general with regular expenses (protein, equipment, travel expenses to national tournaments, etc.)

There are so many lovely people to acknowledge on this effort:

First and foremost, thank you to the Los Tiburones de Isla Colon boxing school for their enthusiastic participation in the event. Trainers, parents and many of the students in the program represented the boxing squad proudly, showing off their sparring skills during the fundraiser. There was excitement and appreciation all around and it really set the tone for the day.

This boxing program would not be possible without the dedication of Kicho Salazar, Sofia Smith, Ronaldo Diaz, Manuel Sanjur (all pictured above) and family members supporting the children in the program. Their involvement is crucial and they ought to be very much appreciated.

Thank you to the Foundation at Red Frog, Island Fitness, Paradise Found Real Estate, Castillo’s Charters, Bocas del Toro Rotary Club, N & M Servicios Contables, Bocas Para Todos, Kombat Pest Control, Bocas del Toro Municipality, Mr. Josh Whitlock, and everyone who donated and supported with their very special contributions to the cause.

Thank you to Enrique Saldaña Paz of Island Sound, Tim Cameron, Ariel “Blunt-E” Stephens, Rod “Marley” Franco and Frank Leone for making the music happen. Thank you to our very own Bocas Breeze Newspaper editor Nicholas Corea for making good on his promise of the performance of his customized rendition of “Eye of the Tiger,” or Los Tiburones.

Thank you to Tequila Republic for hosting the event, donations of the Knockout Punch and all the tremendous support with t-shirt sales in the weeks leading up to the event. Thank you to Natasha MacFarlane and Victoria Canonico for volunteering to sell t-shirts, and especially to Natasha for also providing very important logistical support with the accounting services of N & M Servicios Contables. Thank you to Bocas Breeze team member Alfredo Jurado Martinez (@bocasislove) and new friend Andy Darrow for contributing their photography of the boxers; and especially Alfredo for editing our exclusive interview with Aldair Salazar.

A very special thank you to fundraising organizer, Russell Easby-Smith. It all started with his vision and motivation to make this happen. Great job! It was an honor for The Bocas Breeze to collaborate on this.

Last but not least, the man of the hour: thank you Aldair Salazar (AKA “Chino” / “El Transformer”)! It was the hard work and dedication of one of the island’s own talented boxing star on the rise and the coaching of the Los Tiburones program that created this opportunity. “It is a factory of champions” as Bocas del Toro federation boxing president Manuel Sanjur likes to say. Let’s keep supporting this factory and the future generations of the island’s champions to come!

Check out Los Tiburones de Isla Colon Escuela de Boxeo on Instagram.