Retired pugilists want more boxing revival

Boxing in this Barbados needs a lot more action and less talk, says former Barbados and world-rated Tyrone Downes and former national middleweight champion Curtis Miller.

As the Barbados Boxing Association prepares to hold its annual general meeting this Sunday, Downes, and Miller strongly believe that serious executive changes are needed.

The duo who trained together back in the 1970s and became prominent names locally, regionally, and internationally, said they were not satisfied with how boxing was being governed on the island.

“People have been at the top and they are doing nothing. Change has been needed ever since.

There is a lot of favoritism in amateur boxing. When you have to open your mouth like me you don’t get anywhere.

When you have to talk.

“The people at the top need… I ain’t saying I would change all, but they need a good talking to. People that feel they know about boxing giving their two cents about boxing.

“Go and ask Tyrone Downes about boxing, go and ask Edward “Yogi Bear” Neblett about boxing, ask Curtis Miller what we think. Not you sitting on the inside saying I am an administrator and this is what should happen,” Miller told Barbados TODAY.

Downes, another top pugilist, also shared the same view as Miller, stating that the sport needed to be put back on track. He said new blood was needed to take the BBA forward.

“Boxing needs to get back on track. Right now, boxing in Barbados isn’t that good like before. I would like to see it on a different level and back up there again.

“I want to see the incoming executive get and do what the others refused to do. There are a lot of things in boxing that have to be done and somebody got to do it. Sitting down and talking is not going to help.

“Right now in local boxing, there is lots of talking and no action. I am happy though to see young people stepping up, it is about time. Instead of it going up, it is going down,” Downes said.

Offering a word of advice to the incoming executive, Miller encouraged them to reach out and speak with those who know about boxing.
“The people they should have in boxing they don’t have.

They don’t have Edward Neblett who sparred and trained with Sugar Ray Leonard. He was Leonard’s sparring partner when Leonard fought Roberto Durán.

“They don’t want nobody to tell them anything.

“When we were talking about bringing some of the amateurs on to the professional card, you had Ms. Harper-Hall saying you should not have an amateur on a professional card. I don’t know if she thinks this is netball,” Miller stressed.

Admitting that he no longer goes to watch amateur boxing in Barbados, Miller noted that there are a lot more things about local boxing that make him unhappy.

“I am not happy at all. One of the things that displease me is that you have one coach for the schools. When fellows have to fight the coach can’t go into anybody’s corner.

“But if you have two or three coaches, it would be A boy versus B-boy versus C boys and you would get better fights.

You have guys boxing and sparring together and that is not good for boxing.

“In Guyana, you have the police force boxing, you have the soldiers boxing, you have the civilians boxing and then you have the prisoners boxing. When those four groups meet you know how much boxing it is? The prisoners want to ‘kill’ the police, the police want to ‘kill’ the prison officers.

That is boxing,” he explained.

The 61-year-old Miller said boxing has been without a home since he started as a teenager. He is hoping that the new executive will try his best to ensure boxing has a home.

“When I was learning to box there was no gym. I had to learn between two palings, there was no gym. Boxing needs a home. Boxing also needs people that are serious about boxing and forget this committee thing,” said Miller who is the lone World Championship Boxing referee on the island and is also the first Barbadian boxer to qualify for the Olympics.

Sharing the same sentiments as Miller, Downes now 64-years old, said not only does boxing need a home but the BBA needs to have more gyms set up and also regular fights.

Downes also said that Barbados has qualified trainers like himself that can coach the national boxers. Downes who has been a trainer since 1994 would like to start his gym at the Grantley Adams Memorial School in St. Joseph very soon.

“They don’t have that many fights regularly. Years ago, we would have a gym in St. Joseph, one in St. George, one in St. Andrew, and when we were ready all the gyms came together and we got boxing. They don’t have anything now.

“We did not have a home but we had some good gyms.

As I have been saying, I’m begging, I want to get a gym of my own so I can come out and show Barbados that we have talent. We have talented trainers here.

“We don’t have to bring anybody from Cuba or whatever to train our boxers. We have good trainers here. You have me, Shaka Henry, Yogi Bear, Curtis Miller to name a few. We don’t have to bring anybody in to say they are training our boxers,” said Downes.
morissalindsay@barbadostoday.bb