By Eion Jardine
I first met Lionel Sullivan at the New Court Yard during the weigh-in for the Denny Dalton/Howard Eastman clash.
He introduced himself to me and explained that he had read my article on Mark Harris.
Our paths would have crossed as in 1976 when I was officiating at the amateur level he was already a professional referee/judge.
We met recently after he returned home to deal with a family matter and readily consented to be interviewed by Stabroek Sport.
Lionel Sullivan began his career as a boxing official way back in 1976 after dabbling with the fistic sport as an amateur boxer.
He recalls: “I did a very limited amount of amateur fights and then branched into the professional officiating.
“Actually if we want to go back in 1954 when there was national inter-school boxing. I was 78 pounds then. I represented Campbellvile Boxing School. I lost the final at the Promenade Gardens. I think the guy was from Broad Street Government School or Charlestown. I was 14-years old at the time and was in sixth standard and Burnham (Forbes) was Minister of Education,” he recounted.
Sullivan can in some way be considered one of the pioneers of officiating in Guyana although there were a few others before him.
Names like Leslie Allen, a one time vice president of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control and a referee/judge were legendary.
Allen was the first Guyanese to officiate in a Commonwealth title bout and Sullivan said Allen was one of the few persons to train him.
“In Guyana we did a few informal seminars, Leslie Allen, Mr. Gibson and Dr Hugh conducted those seminars.”
Asked why he decided to become a referee/judge, Sullivan answered: “Because I believe I had a good sense of observational skills. I thought they were pretty okay, strong, and my ability to assess was there and these skills became more apparent when I became an educator in ‘67.”
In 1977, Sullivan proudly received his local boxing member official card which he said was renewed in 1978.
He still has that card today.
“In those days one did not have to pass any exams but one had to be of reasonable character.”
In those days I was the engineering superintendent at Sprostons now GNIC.
“I migrated in 1979 March to Montreal, Canada and then subsequently Ontario.”
Sullivan was in Canada when Guyanese Cleveland Denny lost to Canadian Gaetan Hart and subsequently died of ring related injuries.
He has his own views on that controversial fight.
“When Cleveland Denny died I thought the officiating left a lot to be desired.
“Because he was taking such a beating; he was so helpless for such a long time and there was no intervention, I thought he died in the ring.”
Denny, who was a member of Guyana’s boxing team to the 1976 Olympic Games in Canada but was unable to compete because of a boycott by this country over the inclusion of New Zealand, died of injuries sustained during the fight, 16 days after the bout ended.
“My position was, as an observer in the Olympic Stadium, I thought that the referee should have intervened and stopped the fight.”
Though he has not yet officiated in a world title bout, Sullivan has officiated in a number of high profile bouts most notably the Reginald Forde/Louis Resto in Guyana on February 18, 1979.
Sullivan was a judge at that fight which was won by the Puerto Rican Resto.
He was also a judge of the Mark Harris versus Vernon Harris February 25 1979 clash for the welterweight title of Guyana.
“That was an epic fight with a lot of controversy and a lot of hype,” he recalls.
In Canada, Sullivan officiated in a number of fights. He was the referee for the Terrence Alli versus Neidrick Simmons lightweight clash in Canada which Alli won by a TKO in round four.
But probably the most important fight he has officiated in was the Canadian Light Heavyweight championship of Canada clash between Danny Lalonde and Roddy Mac Donald where he was the third man in the ring.
“That was the biggest fight at that time in Canadian television history. It was beamed across North America.
“I did other fights with notable fighters. I was a judge on the Shawn O’ Sullivan/Simon Browne bout.
O’Sullivan was a silver medallist at the Olympics but the American Browne knocked him out.”
Sullivan’s last fight was the Howard Eastman versus Denny Dalton bout at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall in July this year where he was one of the three judges.
“I think Eastman utilised all of his international boxing experience in my view to have a, not easy, but well-earned victory,” was his assessment.
His assessment of local boxing?
“I think the Guyana Boxing Board has changed considerably in terms of their professional appearance and their thoroughness in which they do all the related stuff for boxing. The only thing which I found humorous was that all night long the tape on the boxers’ hands kept coming off and the ventilation of the Sports Hall needs to be improved.
“In my view the administration of the board seems to have improved considerably. But I think they have to take a good look at the amateur programme and have frequent international exposure for the young boxers. They should also have attitudinal training programmes for the youngsters to make them good citizens as well as good boxers.
“These are some of the intangibles that we need to address. They should also attempt to attract general citizens and not person from a certain socio-economic structure.
“Overall,” he declared, “there must be less talk and more substance in terms of direction.”
For the professional boxers, I believe they need to pay more attention to diet. What they eat. I have seen many Guyanese fighters lose out because they were not strong enough in my view. They seemed to be weakening in the championship rounds.”
