A new boxing promotional group has come on stream officially. Major Promotions and Entertainment (MPE) has met all of the upfront conditions for obtaining a sanction to stage a boxing show on February 4, at the Kendal Isaacs Gym. The Bahamas Boxing Commission has given permission for MPE to organize a scheduled 28 rounds of boxing with Bahamian super featherweight champion Meacher Major headlining the program.
There is high expectation that the new promotional organization, that is associated closely with Major, will do much to ignite the professional boxing scene. Major, from a local perspective, joins world famous boxers such as Floyd Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya, Bernard Hopkins, Roy Jones, Winky Wright and Ricky Hatton who have stepped up to have a bigger influence on shows they are featured in.
Square Ring Inc. that is connected to Roy Jones Jr. and Golden Boy Promotions to which De La Hoya, Hopkins, Wright and Hatton are associated, have blazed a trail for the involvement of boxers in the finances of shows. World boxing bodies that had a hard and fast rule against boxers being involved directly in the promotion of cards have relented. There has been global acceptance that because they are the stars who bring in the patrons, boxers should have more influence in the financial structure of shows. The best way to do that is to be involved.
Although commissions monitor the situation, the new order has been a blessing for boxers. There is a sad history of boxers making promoters rich and ending up penniless. The concept is new in The Bahamas. Major who has always functioned differently in a more intellectual way than most of his peers, years ago decided to opt for independence as a boxer rather than simply comply with whatever promoters told him to do. Major contacted the Commission to find out what his entitlements were under the Boxing Act of The Bahamas and he never looked back.
"I always felt within myself that boxers ought to have more of a say in what happens with shows when they are the stars. I found out from the Commission what my rights were and I tried to explain the circumstances to my fellow boxers. But they were otherwise persuaded. Later they came to me and admitted that they wished they had listened. The rules are there for everybody to look at. It is the law of the land through Parliament. Boxers have rights.
"I hope those boxers who lost interest because they didn't like the situations they were put in, will recognize that they can determine what they do in this game, very much. You have to work with promoters and others but you don't have to take everything somebody shoves down your throat because they call themselves promoters," Major said recently. The February 4 show will also include Dencil "Death" Major, Ryan "Big Boy" McKenzie, Ivan Moxey, Anthony Major and Leon Bain.
The super featherweight champ is part of a new trend in The Bahamas. Elkeaner Saunders, two weeks ago, sent a letter of retirement to the Commission. He is one of those who did not favor certain situations he had to deal with and now plans to become a promoter. He will be associated with Jermain Mackey. My understanding is that during the first quarter of the New Year, he plans to promote a show with the former Commonwealth Super Middleweight Champion Mackey as the featured contestant. The professional boxing scene is brightening up.
(To respond to this column, kindly contact Fred Sturrup at fredericksturrup@gmail.com).
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