Boxing, professional and amateur, has played an important role in the sports power image of this country. For reasons, I've never understood, there has always been the tendency within our system to relegate boxing to the lower category of sports disciplines.
This has been the case despite glittering performances in the ring by Bahamians nationally and internationally and some truly spectacular boxing eras. During the 1940s, a Bahamian who explored frontiers few others had at the time, returned home and quickly charged up the Bahamian sports scene with his expertise in track and field and the revolutionizing of the sport of boxing with shows that attracted spectators from all corners of New Providence.
Reference is to Charles Major Sr. He was a world-class high jumper, one of the outstanding athletes in the entire United States during an exceptional career at St. Bonaventure College. He competed throughout the United States in the biggest meets, and won his share of them.
It is in fact, quite ironic, that while he remained connected to track and field for most of his 80 years on this side of eternity, he blazed significant trails also in promoting boxing and wrestling. Charles Major Sr. is the greatest sports promoter the country ever produced. He first established a recreation center in The Pond (the Earnest and East Bay Streets area) and brought in the likes of Joe Louis and Willie Pep. Later he created the Nassau Stadium for boxing, basketball and skating.
Boxing of course remained the signature event for him and the name of Charles Major Sr. would live on as the true czar of boxing in this country. During the 1950s, two young boxers emerged out of Bimini, Yama Bahama and Gomeo Brennan. Yama was the first of the two cousins to reach stardom and he actually became the first prime time Bahamian sports ambassador. He was a television star during the 1950s and 1960s as one of the popular feature fighters on the world's greatest of boxing stages at the time, the famed Madison Square Garden.
Brennan would take The Bahamas further internationally by becoming the Commonwealth of Nations (British Empire) middleweight champion on two occasions. On the international scene they would be assisted in boosting the name of The Bahamas through boxing, by Sugar Cliff, Wendall Newton and 'Baby Boy' Rolle.
On the local scene, names like Cubel McCoy, Iron Baby, Stoney Godet, Sugar Cliff, 'Battling' Douglas, George Knowles, Vogal 'Bobo' Reckley, Sammy Isaacs, Roy Armbrister, Cleveland 'KO' Parris and Leonard 'Boston Blackie' Miller became legendary. They were exciting dimensions to the boxing scene. Mentors and promoters such as L. Garth Wright, Wilfred Coakley, Chris Malakius and Dr. Norman Gay added their contributions to expanding the fistic ring program in the country. Prominent in the boxing historic mix of this country of course is Elisha Obed who won the first (and still only) legitimate world title (World Boxing Council Junior Middleweight Championship in 1975).
Bert Perry and a group (of which I was proud to be a part) began the amateur boxing program in the country that produced the first international medal winner, Nat Knowles, and later on Lionel Glinton, Steve Larrimore, Taureano Johnson, Valentino Knowles and Carl Heild (two of the world's best at junior welterweight and welterweight, respectively, today).
Ray Minus Jr., Larrimore and Jermain Mackey joined Brennan in the Commonwealth champions circle. The amateur boxing program became the best in the Caribbean, the only Bahamian sport ever able to consistently claim as much. Would you believe though that the powers-that-be in the Ministry of Sports have never upgraded boxing to the "core sport" category?
It's a travesty. Quite frankly by refusing to give boxing its rightful status, the various sports ministries have been responsible for distorting the true picture of sports in The Bahamas. Boxing has long been a great contributor to the nation's sports power image and there is continuity today.
To respond to this column, kindly contact Fred Sturrup at fredericksturrup@gmail.com.

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