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Sports Minister leads team to inspect Sports Hall renovations
Kaieteur News – The Cliff Anderson Sports Hall located along Homestretch Avenue, Georgetown, is currently undergoing rehabilitation works; at a project cost estimated to be 103 million. Upon completion, the facility is expected to become a fully air-conditioned venue, outfitted with attractive bucket seats, as well as modern amenities.
This modernisation process is closely monitored under the watchful eyes of the National Sports Commission and Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.
Director of Sports, Steve Ninvalle and his team; Assistant Director of Sports, Frankie Wilson and Melissa Richardson also the engineer attached to the Ministry of Culture Youth and Sports, Sherwin Moore accompanied Sports Minister Charles Ramson Jnr on a visit to site early yesterday morning to ascertain the level of progress made to Cliff Anderson Sports Hall upgrading process. According to Director of Sports, Ninvalle, “They spoke with contractors assigned to the project.” Kaieteur News understands that rehabilitation works on the indoor facility is coming along nicely.
The Cliff Anderson Sports Hall was named after boxer Clifford Mathew Anderson, a Guyana-born featherweight boxer who was born on 22nd October, 1921.
Minister Charles Ramson Jnr (2nd left) along with Director of Sports Steve Ninvalle (3rd right) and team listen attentively to a rep of the contracting firm on the progress of the work done at the Sports Hall.
His father, a stevedore, saw his (Cliff) potential and pushed him into the sport from a very young age. Cliff started boxing in New Amsterdam Berbice, it was then that he found out that he packed a mean wallop and by the time he became 18-years-old, he had some 20 fights in the club.
His first bout was an exhibition match organized by the Red Cross. Cliff later fought his way out of the amateur ranks to become a leading professional boxer.
He then migrated to England in search of a boxing career; he subsequently joined Bill Cline’s boxing gym in London’s West End. There he met `Tootie Green’ a Guyanese, when Green once brought a British boxer, Tommy Martin to Guyana to fight `Young’ Jack Johnson in 1939.
Cliff, first found the spotlight after BBC’s commentator Raymond Glendenning described his victory over Jackie Patterson in glowing terms.
He was then labeled as the `Black Panther’. Cliff went on to fight men like ‘Aldgate Tiger’ Al Phillips, Billy Worthington, Phil Freeman, Mickey Colbert, Red Tap Davis, Gus Foran and many others.
Cliff had claimed nine British Empire, European and World Champions by knockout wins but never had a British national title. It was for this reason he went on to serve in the British Merchant Navy until the cessation of hostilities in 1945.
This outstanding pugilist later retired from boxing in 1954, after spending nearly fourteen years working and boxing in England. In 1976, upon his return to Guyana he formed the Cliff Anderson Boxing gym which produced fighters like Michael Benjamin, Anthony ‘the Pearl’ Andrews, Dillon and Gordon Carew: the only two Guyanese boxers to compete at the Olympics. Cliff died on 2nd December, 1998 at the Davis Memorial Hospital, he was 77 years old.
The Cliff Anderson Sports Hall was initially constructed as the premier indoor facility for multi-sports practice and competition. Over the years, this facility served sports such as; Basketball, Hockey, Badminton, Table tennis, Volleyball among others. The modernisation of the iconic Cliff Anderson Sports Hall will definitely be a booster to the sports fraternity as well as athletes.
- Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, Frankie Wilson, Melissa Richardson, Sherwin Moore, Sports Minister Charles Ramson Jnr, Steve Ninvalle
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