Teresa Perozzi may have lost out at the World Amateur Boxing Championships but the Bermudian proved a knockout nonetheless.

According to her trainer `Forty' Rego, so impressed were organisers of the inaugural event with his fighter that they have already told her she will be welcome at next year's event due to be held in Turkey.

Perozzi lost on points after her three round bout with Chinese fighter Guo Shuai at Scranton, Pennsylvania last week.

Rego, who accompanied the fighter to the US as her trainer, said: "Every country in the world was there and everyone was so impressed with Teresa when she was training that they were all anticipating what she was going to be like. Everybody wanted to see this girl of the soil, this young Bermudian lady and what she was going to do.

"When we went into the training room the girls in there stopped what they were doing just to watch Teresa, it was like a home away from home."

Rego said when Perozzi fought, despite the fact there were no Bermudians in the audience, all he could hear was shouts of `Teresa, Teresa, Bermuda, Bermuda'.

"We were picked against a Chinese girl. She was a southpaw and Teresa had never fought one before," he said.

"Teresa took the fight to the girl right away and hit her with some hard shots. I don't think the girl could believe it, this woman hitting her like this. So she came to Teresa again and Teresa hit her with the same shots."

Rego said that shook the Chinese girl and Perozzi had to go after her opponent then.

"Teresa won the first round hands down, beating her to the body and to the head," he said. "In the next round they (the Chinese) tried to counter-punch. But Teresa was smarter than that and they both mixed it up."

Rego said he scored that round even and that left just one more to go.

"I think Teresa was more surprised than anyone to see that she could hit this girl so easily," he said. "People tell you that Bermudians can't compete with the rest of the world and if they say it for long enough you tend to believe it. When she found she could get to this girl that easily Teresa was just taking it right to her."

But Rego said just as he thought Perozzi had the fight in the bag she took her eye off the prize.

"In the last seconds of the round Teresa stepped back to admire her work," he said. "This girl caught her with a combination of punches that while not devastating were enough for the judges to give the edge to the Chinese girl."

Disappointed with the loss, Perozzi's spirits picked up when the organisers asked her and Rego to stay on and train in the mountains with the rest of competitors over the remainder of the tournament.

"They asked her to stay because they were so impressed. They told her they had already accepted her to go to the World Championships in Turkey next year," Rego said. "So although Teresa lost it had been a positive experience."

In a bid to give Perozzi a better chance of success next year, Rego said the Bermuda Amateur Boxing Association would be looking to put on a series of fights on the Island and possibly even send her overseas.

The fighter, public relations officer for the BABA, will also be doing her bit away from the ring in a bid to boost the profile of the sport.

"Teresa wants to go to the schools and speak to the young girls and tell them what a positive thing this is," Rego said. "She said she is not just doing this (boxing) for herself, she is doing it for all the young girls in Bermuda that want to participate and the women that want to get into it."

Rego said he wanted to pay tribute to all those who had helped Perozzi get to this stage, including the newly elected BABA representatives and his fellow coach Troy Darrell.

"I would like to thank all those for making this happen. I would like to thank the new Bermuda Amateur Boxing Association because without their sanctioning it would have been impossible for us to participate in this event," he said. "I would also like to send special thanks to Delbert Hunt. He is like his father Nelson, whenever something needs to be done around here they always seem to get themselves in a position to assist you."