Fred Sturrup | GB News Editor | [email protected]
A few weeks ago, Minister of Youth Sports and Culture, Hon. Mario Bowleg, met with Bahamas Boxing Commission Chairman Fred Sturrup and other commissioners for the first time. The minister made it quite clear that he plans to fortify the commission, the government’s arm for the control of professional boxing, as best as is possible with the main objective being the full revival of the sport. He requested that Sturrup lead an initiative that links all of the boxing programs in the collective interest of boosting the sport. To that end, the commission has engaged with Vincent Strachan of the Bahamas Boxing Federation (Amateur arm of the sport); Meacher Major, the national director for the Pan American Caribbean Boxing Organization, which is headquartered in the Bahamas; and Patrick Strachan who just recently registered a veteran boxing body. A conclave is scheduled for April in Grand Bahama, a day after the scheduled Boxing Reconstruction Invitational which is set to take place at the Castaways Hotel in conjunction with the YMCA of Grand Bahama. The sport is on the move for sure. There is a great chance that this first joint effort by all of the leadership of boxing will bring about a revival nationally and bring back memories of the ring greats who once had boxing solidified as the most popular sport in the country. The names Gomeo Brennan, Yama Bahama, Elisha Obed, Baby Boy Rolle, Sugar Cliff, Battling Douglas, Ray Minus Sr., Ray Minus Jr., Cassius Moss, Quincy “Thriller” Pratt, Ernie Barr, Freeman Barr, Nat Knowles, Gary Davis, Taureano Johnson, Jermain Mackey, Carl Hield, Wendell Newton, Rene Pinder, Boston Blackie, Tidal Wave Duncanson, Vogal Reckley, Roy Armbrister, Sammie Isaacs, and many others were once noted in households around the country. It is the intent of the commission to coordinate and spearhead clinics throughout the land, the capital island of New Providence and the inhabited Family Islands. The entire plan is to connect the country to boxing like never before and spawn champions and great athletes akin to the aforementioned.
No doubt, boxing development is a top agenda item for Minister Bowleg. The fistic fraternity is appreciative.