The Trinidad and Tobago Amateur Boxing Association (TTABA) will host its 2012 National Championships from February 9-12, where Olympic hopefuls will begin their qualifying campaign.

The event was launched yesterday at the Audio/Visual Room of the Hasely Crawford Stadium, where it was announced that US and Canada-based fighters of T&T parentage have also been invited to compete for a spot on the national team.

The top boxers after the February 12 finals will compete in a box-off at an unconfirmed date and venue for a spot on T&T's team, which will travel to Brazil in May for final round Olympic qualifiers. The preliminaries will come off on February 9-10, with the semi-finals on February 11 in Arima.

TTABA president Cecil Forde told the media yesterday that T&T might field a full team for the qualifiers, depending on the quality of the local boxers.

"Now that the (T&T Boxing) Board and the Ministry (of Sport) and the (Amateur Boxing) Association have a working relationship, we have decided that as long as there are guys of (suitable) standard, we will carry a full team (to Brazil)," said Forde.

Competition will take place in several categories, including Elite Men, Male, Female, Youth, Junior and Novices.

The TTABA are expecting 105 boxers, including 25 women.

Top amateur heavyweight Tariq Haqq has not confirmed his participation in the event, as he is currently engaged in law exams, but Forde said as long as the Commonwealth Games silver medallist is fit, he will be accommodated.

The foreign-based fighters include light flyweight Lawrence Singh of the USA and junior welterweight Lexton Bates of Canada. Seasoned fighter and CAC Championships medallist Andrew Fermin will also be in the mix in the welterweight division.

The weigh-in for the competition will be done on Saturday at Cosmic Boxing Gym from 8 a.m.