Michael Benjamin regurgitates nostalgic memories …Down ‘Boxing’ Memory Lanes

Sep 28, 2014 Sports

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It’s been more than thirty years still the memory lingers. I had visited the home of boxing, the National Sports Hall, now the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, to witness the finals of the National Open Boxing Championships where a plethora of stars were on show.
Anthony Barrow represented the Ricola Boxing Gym and was scheduled to face off with Anthony ‘The Pearl’ Andrews in what many regarded as the main attraction. Then there was Darius Forde, matched against Republican, Winston Richards. The card also had such stalwarts like the late, John ‘The Beast’ Brummell, Dereck and Allan Housner, the Alberts brothers, Ray and Herbert and I could reel off dozens of other names that would touch the nostalgic bones of patrons that visited the boxing arena in those days of skilful and raging slugfests.
The venue was ram-jammed with eager fans, some casting their wagers in support of their choices while hundreds rocked the gates eager to get in. Outside, around the periphery, alert police officers patrolled with vicious looking guard dogs, protecting the promoters from those that chose to enter the venue unconventionally.
Inside the venue, ‘Starry, ’a renowned tailor and staunch supporter of the boxers out of the Republican Boxing Gym, was flashily dressed and waved a flag with the Republican emblem emblazoned for all to see. He would stop periodically where the boxers of the Dowden’s International Gymnasium were assembled, awaiting their respective turn in the ring, and bellow, “The only good Ford is Taps car.” He was taunting Darius Forde, referring to a Ford Escort motorcar owned by the late Errol ‘Taps’ Butcher and warning him to beware of Winston Richards who was at his best.
While ‘Starry’ represented him on the outside, Richards was in the dressing room with his other gym mates, warming up and getting ready for war. Reporters referred to Ford as the sixteen years old schoolboy with talent incomparable. The joke making its rounds then was that Darius enjoyed this status for three full years.
Shortly before the Richards/Forde shindig, word was out that a top prison official had leaked the news that if Richards defeated Ford, he (Richards) would be given a reprieve from his lengthy prison term. The crowd went wild in renewed anticipation of the treat in store and fans were not disappointed. In what is still a talking highpoint among boxing pundits, Richards unleashed a sustained attack on Ford that included a wicked body assault that that had Darry (as he was familiarly called) cringing and resorting to the use of the ‘third guard’ for added protection.
For the uninitiated, the ‘third guard’ occurs when a boxer receives several body digs and draws up his leg to stem the blows. It is a term that originated around the boxing circles and aptly describes the plight of the boxer on the receiving end of the blows.
Many will remember the intensity and the sustained attack that earned Richards the unanimous verdict and his freedom. Unfortunately, Richards did not make full use of the opportunity and was soon in the ‘slammer’ again. His life of crime continued and Richards died as he lived, killed in a confrontation with the police after he was fingered in a criminal endeavour.
The Barrow/Andrews bout was a thriller and there was only standing room space in the Sports Hall. The two went after each other in a delightful slugfest that rocked the venue and one could have heard the reverberating screams of the crowd from way down in Campbellville.
Caesar Barrow trained his son and was uncompromising; following a hectic 4 miles workout early in the morning, he would insist on 30 minutes of calisthenics and abdominals. In those days the boxers were as tough as nails but the workload was so intense that even the toughest complained. After an especially tough workout one of the boxers turned to Caesar and muttered, “Man Caesar, Rome was not built in a day, you know!” Without missing a beat Caesar responded, “That’s because I was not the contractor.”  The complaining boxer would then engage in unintelligible jargon forcing Caesar to say, “I’m not asking for the impossible; I just want you guys to render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s.”
Yes, those were the days when the Cubans sent strong teams to Guyana and local boxers returned the favour, returning to the Spanish Island to compete in the Cardin Games. I remember the Anthony Andrew/Joquin Campanioni flyweight bout, Andrews’ first lost, when the Cuban southpaw unleashed a barrage of punches that sent ‘The Pearl’ to the canvass for the full count. I remember Ray Jones taking on Campanioni just afterwards and turning in such a display that left boxing pundits wondering aloud how the judges could have possibly scored against him.
I have deliberately chosen not to engage in comparative analysis with our past stalwarts and the present crop; it’s like chalk to cheese. Nevertheless, boxers of yore were not all saints and engaged in mischievous violations. One day me, Pascal David and Simeon Rahaman, all boxers and members of the Guyana National Service, scaled the fence aback the Base Command Sophia and slipped into the Guysuco cane fields. Shortly after a vanload of rangers swooped down, bundled us into their van and sped off to the Sparendaam Police Station. We were frisked and deposited into a dank, musty, foul smelling cell. We banged on the door and informed the officer in charge that we were military personnel.
We were taken out and immediately a message was despatched to Director General Joe Singh who ordered the Sports Officer, Captain Patterson to investigate and mete out the requisite discipline.
In the meantime we were questioned by the officer in charge. “What is your trade?”  Me and Rahaman replied, “We are boxers.” Pascal decided to play safe, “I am good in any field,” he replied. The officer fixed him a caustic stare and bellowed, “Not in Guysuco cane fields.”
Those were good days. Present day boxers are less tough than their predecessors; a few days ago I was in the gym and while engaged in sparring sessions a certain boxer lost his mouthpiece to a wicked left hook. He immediately stopped to retrieve it and I jokingly said, “In my days it was not the mouthpiece that fell, it was teeth and we never got the chance to retrieve it.” I was joking but it depicts the general attitude of present day pugilists in comparison to their predecessors. And we have the gumption to question the non-support of patrons and the corporate community.

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