Confronting life’s challenges, former boxer vows to come out victorious

Nov 05, 2009 Sports

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By Michael Benjamin
He once exchanged vicious combinations with some of the country’s best pugilists and at one time nurtured the thoughts of becoming Guyana first world champion.
His dreams never materialized and from a healthy, top class pugilist, Gustavos Trevor “Haversack” Theobald has been reduced the state of an invalid.
Yet, this former boxer refuses to throw in the towel and is now contemplating other ventures concomitant with his unfortunate state.
Few would remember former junior/welterweight boxer, Gustavus Trevor Theobald while fewer would remember his epic junior/middleweight clashes with Lenny Somerset.
He lost the first on Boxing Day of 1980 but one year later, avenged that loss. ‘Haversack.’ as he was otherwise known had a relatively short career, fighting 10 times, losing twice and earning a draw for another.
A mean southpaw boxer, he had never entered the amateur arena and just as suddenly as he had entered the sport, he exited.
Today, Gustavos is fighting the biggest battle of his life.
Already subjected to the proverbial mandatory eight count, he is currently tottering on the ropes yet is determined to stay around until the final bell.
Most boxers are devoid of academic accomplishments and even in those days when their take home pay could have hardly taken them home, local boxers nurtured the hopes of attaining a world title which, to their minds, would have compensated for the long arduous journey of fighting and earning negligible sums.
Many left the sport still nurturing these spectacular dreams, alas without a penny to take care of their families. When Gustavos hung up his gloves, his fate was no different but he was a mite smarter than the run of the mill pugilists.
He turned to the money lending business and was doing a favourable job until fate changed his course. “That line of business was doing great for a while but afterwards I started encountering difficulties where people borrowed and then disappeared,” Gustavos revealed.
He decided to find a regular job and that was how he sought employment at the John Fernandes Wharf as a stevedore.
The pay was decent but the job was dangerous and he often had to put in the extra hours in order to take home a decent wage.
Boxing was now his past and his work commitment made it difficult for him to attend the cards.
Suddenly, and without warning, his world came crashing down. Whether it was the carelessness of his co-workers or simply fate, he would never know.
Gustavos vividly remembers the Friday night when he and his colleagues were working in the number three hatch of a ship, moored to the John Fernandes wharf.
He said that the group was cutting open the bags of rice and storing the contents into the hatch for export. For his part, he was required to alternate his labour between several hatches.
It was while he was crossing from one hatch to the next that he heard one of his colleagues shout, “Look out!” Before he could have taken evasive action, several bags of rice that were on a sling just over his head broke loose. Upon hearing his colleagues warning, he looked up.
Too late, he realized that one of the slings had broken and several bags of rice were hurtling towards him. Shortly afterwards, his world went black.
“I was not attired in safety gear so I received the brunt of the blow.” He said. The former boxer remembers feeling the stickiness of his blood oozing from his head to other parts of his body. “I stumbled to the ship rail even as my energy was sapped from my body.
My faculties felt okay but my legs were rubbery,” he intimated. He said he felt an excruciating pain in his back and he knew that he was seriously hurt. “I just had this gut feeling that I would have become a cripple,” he said.
Shortly afterwards, he was taken to the Prashad Hospital and subsequently to the Seaman Ward at the Georgetown Hospital.
Eight months later, doctors discharged from the medical institution. “My employers offered me a compensatory figure of $1M Guyana dollars but I bluntly refused to accept that paltry sum,” he disclosed.
When further negotiations fell through, Gustavos said that he sought the services of the late Attorney, Dereck Jagan who petitioned the courts on his behalf. . One year later, he won judgment for $10M (Guyana). Now, eleven years after winning the court battle, Gustavos has depleted all of his funds.
“As per agreement, I paid $3M to my attorney. I then donated $50,000 each to ten churches and another $500,000 to several indigent homes,” the former boxer intimated.
The balance, he invested in real estate but legal shenanigans on the part of his attorney have caused him to lose the investment. “It’s a long story but suffice to say I do not trust lawyers anymore,” was all he is willing to say on the matter.
Gustavos currently resides in the Buxton/Friendship Squatting area. A good friend helped him to acquire the plot of land and through the chivalry of other friends; he has been able to construct a modest house.
He tides by on a monthly disablement grant from the National Insurance Scheme. He hardly visits the capital city since the cost of traveling is extremely prohibitive.
He had to have been a good father because his daughter Ann defies her personal problems to render assistance.
Determination and perseverance had been the traits that propelled him into the boxing ring.
These are the very traits that keep him alive even as he visualizes a change of fortunes sometime soon.
Gustavos has utilized his spare time writing and has compiled a series of short stories that he hopes to publish very soon. He firmly believes that God had arranged his circumstances for a reason.
He has once defied the circumstances in the ‘square jungle.’ His current battle may be a bit sterner but Gustavos is prepared to confront life’s vicissitudes like a champion.

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