Theresa London enforcing the fortitude of the ‘London’ Bridge

Feb 23, 2014 Sports

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On May 29, 2004, at the National Park in Georgetown, Guyana, a crowd of about 5000 fans cheered Gwendolyn ‘Stealth Bomber’ O’Neil to a unanimous verdict over American pugilist, Kathy Rivers to win the Women International Boxing Association (WIBA) light/heavyweight title that had been vacated by Jacqui Frazier-Lyde. The fact that O’Neil was a female dominating a male oriented sport was even more meritorious and lifted women on a pedestal never before ascended locally.

O’Neil’s accomplishment served as a fillip to other local aspirants and before one could say ‘Jack Rabbit’ a host of others joined the ranks. There was Shondell ‘Mystery Lady’ Alfred, Geraldine Cox and the London sisters, Pauline and Pamela among others, who all staked a claim to fame in the pugilistic arena, all with decent levels of success.   The aforementioned pugilists have either vacated, or are on the verge of vacating the scene leaving local fans to wonder at their successors.
As if in answer to that question, Guyanese have seen the rise of another London, this time Theresa, who is staking a claim to international stardom in the ‘square jungle’ and appears to be destined for greater heights than her familial predecessors.
Boxing is regarded as ‘disciplined war’ and this theory is firmly endorsed when one learns that London, at only 14 years of age, was a fighter during her school days at the Community College, Queenstown. “I was a warrior and if anyone, whether boy or girl, looked at me too hard I wanted to fight,” said London during our chat at her Albouystown, Non Pariel Street home, Friday morning last.  All this time her mother, Pamela, was pursuing her trade among the other top notch female pugilists locally. As a matter of fact, Pamela had travelled to neighbouring Trinidad and Tobago where she had defeated Kim ‘Crusher’ Quashie to take the World International Boxing Council (WIBC) heavyweight belt while Pamela’s sister, Pauline, was also fighting up a storm locally.
Theresa’s inauguration into the sport came after her mother was summoned to her school, not for the first time, after she (Theresa) had been hauled before the head teacher for fighting. Pamela decided to have a hard talk with her daughter and subsequently enrolled her in a one day boxing tournament at the Harpy Eagles Boxing Gym. The problem though, was that Theresa was not a member of any gym, a prerequisite for engaging in Guyana Boxing Association organized combat; she was being tutored by her uncle, Ovid who knew a few things about the sport. She decided to enrol into the Forgotten Youth Foundation under coaches Joseph Murray, Wensel Thomas and Sebert Blake.
The fight was staged at the Harpy Eagle’s Boxing Gym and Theresa had a successful debut, defeating Ansilla Norville in her own backyard. She said that by then she had curbed her impulses to fight among her schoolmates and had taken her skill to another level. “My mom and aunt had taught me quite a lot about the game plus my mom and aunt kept encouraging me onwards,” Theresa reflected. She was then fighting as a bantamweight.
Consequently, Theresa earned quite a reputation and within a relatively short time she had shot up the local rankings as one of the best female boxers. This view was embellished when Theresa earned a spot on the team that was selected to travel to Trinidad and Tobago for a goodwill tournament in February last year. Matched against home girl, Chimere Taylor, London dropped a close decision in her first overseas assignment. “It was a fair decision but I was encouraged by the fact that I had lost by just one point,” said London. She also said that she was at a disadvantage after Taylor weighed in substantially heavier. London managed to avenge that loss when the two faced off again in the finals of the just concluded 4 nation boxing championships at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH), Sunday February 16 last. This time the Trinidadian did not enjoy the weight advantage as both fighters tipped the scale at 75kgs. Theresa’s record has improved to 10-2 and she has been selected to represent Guyana at the South American Boxing Championships in Chile on March 7-18 next.
As Theresa reflects on her journey thus far, she admits that there is still much ground to cover. Her other loss occurred at the Bartica Community Centre ground late last year against Dwon Thompson, a fight most of the spectators thought London had won.
She is now out of school but still marvels at the changes she has made through boxing.  “I am convinced that boxing has the potential to shape one’s life,” she asserts. “I can’t believe it,” she continues with a chuckle, “my life has changed and I reserve my bouts for the ring; I have stopped fighting in the streets.”
Theresa feels that she will do well at the impending tournament and already she has her sights on the Olympic Games. She had wanted to attend the London 2012 Olympics but was told that she was much too young. Having attained the qualifying age, Theresa once again aspires to perform at the world’s most prestigious forum.  “I am thinking strongly of winning an Olympic gold medal and my mind is farthest away from fighting professionally,” she replied to a relevant question.
Theresa trains at the Andrew Lewis Boxing Gym and is forced to spar with the males as there is a paucity of competent females. “There are some days when the training gets real tough sparring among the men, but I know what I want and am prepared to make the sacrifices,” she said.
Despite her successes in the sport, Theresa has not lost her femininity and she still engages in ‘girly things.’ She has grown with, and is closely attached to her Mom; her father lives in the USA and though they communicate, she regards the efforts of her mother in her upbringing and she feels a deep sense of gratitude. She also acknowledges the input of her aunt Pauline and uncle, Ovid, who have all contributed to her development. She is focused and plans recommencing lessons so as to improve on her academic standing and advises other lasses to do the same. “I realize that though I have a future in boxing, I must also balance my life with academics and I have every intention of doing so,” she confirmed. While this forms a part of her future plans, for now Theresa is focused on her trip to Chile where she plans to do Guyana proud.

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