Latest update December 21st, 2024 1:52 AM
Nov 01, 2009 Sports
Former world champion
would love to fight in Guyana
Issues warning to local heavyweight champ “don’t write a cheque that you can’t cash”
By Dale Andrews
Guyana’s former Cruiserweight boxing world champion, Wayne ‘Big Truck’ Braithwaite says he would like to fight in his homeland before he calls a day on his career.
Braithwaite, who is campaigning in the United States of America, told this newspaper that he still has a lot of fight in him to put on a show in front of his countrymen for the first time in almost 10 years.
Speaking to Kaieteur News in Downtown Brooklyn where is presently domiciled, Braithwaite said that as a boxer there is nothing in the world more satisfying than performing in front of your hometown fans.
“Guyana must have only seen me fight about three times there when I started my career and I would love to come back home and show off my talents in front of my people,” he said.
He was somewhat envious of his other illustrious countrymen Howard Eastman, Andrew ‘Six Heads’ Lewis and Rawle Frank who have all being given the opportunity to fight in front of their hometown fans.
While there is no Cruiserweight boxer with Braithwaite’s status in Guyana, he has set his sights on clashing with the local Heavyweight Champion, Mitchell Rogers.
“I was hearing Rogers talking that he would take my head off. Rogers is not in my league, I fight world class fighters. Rogers never fight a world class fighter, he fought a lot of local fighters and Caribbean fights. But fight local fighters and world class fighters is a whole lot different. But I will come home to fight Rogers any day. Just put it up and I will beat him,” Braithwaite said.
He warned, “He’s heavyweight and he doing well in Guyana and that’s good for him as a young upcoming fighter. But don’t write a cheque that you can’t cash.”
After a sterling amateur career the ‘Big Truck’ moved to the United States of America to enhance his profession. This was after a brief sojourn in Australia.
From there he did exceeding well winning a world title and defending it twice before losing a unification bout to Jean Marc Mormeck. Since then his career has apparently stalled.
Over the past two years his record stands at two wins and two losses, hardly one that would command attention in the competitive Cruiserweight division. He lost a points decision to Steve Cunningham in his last fight in July but he claims that this was due to 17 months of inactivity.
This set back has compelled him to keep training and be prepared in the event that a fight should come his way as is often expected to happen in the world of boxing. Braithwaite was scheduled to fight last month but his opponent suffered and injury and the fight has been put on hold.
“I’m still training though and I’m waiting for word from Don King and my manager,” he said. He said that he has no problems with his management, of which his mother is a part, and he is refocused now on boxing.
Braithwaite is still convinced that he has what it takes to be a world champion again.
However, the recent loss has set him back a bit in this quest.
“If I had won that fight, which was for the number one contender spot and the mandatory for the world title, Who knows? Unfortunately you win some and you lose some but I give myself by next year to get back on top of things,” the ‘Big Truck’ told this newspaper.
He describes boxing in America as a never ending learning experience. “Guyana had a lot of world class fighters, yes, but going around the gym here you see a lot of world champions. In the gym here, if you’re sparring it’s like a fight. You got to bring your best in the gym here because everybody is hungry. Once they know you have a name they try to take your head off. Every time I spar it’s like a fight most of the time. You have to be in shape all the time. If you get beat up in the gym everybody knows about it because there is always a photographer or a newspaper in the gym,” Braithwaite said.
Braithwaite appears to be calm and assured and he informed that family wise things have been going smoothly.
“Basically everything is good with my daughter. I’m in a new relationship now so everything is alright with that,” he said.
Obviously the move to the United States of America has been a tremendous boost to his career.
He informed that while campaigning in Guyana in his early career, he was just a name there but in the United States he has been to get the recognition worldwide.
Braithwaite won the world title in his first opportunity and he thinks that since he has been there he knows how to return to the pinnacle of his division once the opportunity presents itself.
“Nothing is wrong with ‘Big Truck’ it’s just that in life there are ups and down. The truck is still going. My last four fights it’s two-two and it’s not like I lost all my fights. Right now I think I’m still one of the top cruiserweights in the world. I think I’m in the top five. I just need to be more active and stop being laid off so long and everything will be alright with me. I guarantee that I could be a world champion again and put Guyana back on top,” he said.
But his belief is not reflected in the latest world ratings of the three major boxing bodies.
While he would have loved to be back home to witness the progress of boxing in Guyana first hand, Braithwaite has been keeping up to date as best he can.
He informed that in New York he has been sparring with Rawle Frank, who is preparing for his scheduled showdown with Lewis which has been put back due to injury to one of the combatants.
Brathwaite congratulated Guyana’s newest world champion Shondell ‘Mystery Lady’ Alfred as well as Leon ‘Hurry up’ Moore who recently won their last fights against foreign opponents at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall. “I just heard Shondell won a world title and I would like to say congratulations to her and ‘Chicken’ (Moore) too. Both of them are my friends.”
Braithwaite said that it is nice to see women boxing in Guyana reaching to the top level, since it augurs well for the sport in the country as a whole.
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