- Anthony Andrews
Says Eion Jardine
Guyana’s Anthony `The Pearl’ Andrews is the only man to win four national titles in four different weight classes.
Andrews won the national bantamweight, welterweight, middle and super middleweight titles in a career that spanned 42 fights 27 of which he won while losing 13 and drawing two.
Recently boxing promoter Herman Harris, father of Wayne and Vivian, stated that his son Wayne was the only Guyanese professional boxer to have won four national titles in four different weight classes in the history of Guyana.
That statement is not altogether correct.
According to Wayne Harris’s record he has fought 42 times, winning 20, 10 of which came by knockout; lost 21 and drawn one.
His record also shows that he won only the light middleweight and middleweight titles of Guyana.
He first won the light middleweight title on August 27 1985 by a disqualification over Mortimer Cornell.
Harris had weighed in at 153 pounds while Cornell had weighed in at 153 and one half pounds.
He subsequently lost the title to Lennox Blackmore via TKO in round nine of their scheduled 12 rounder on June 15, 1986 but regained it on May 1 1988 by points decision over Patrick Farley.
Harris came in at 152 pounds two pounds heavier that Farley and he was to successfully defend his title in his next fight against the late Albert Browne whom he defeated by a TKO in round 11 of their scheduled 12 round bout on December 4 1988.
Harris retired on February 19, 1994 but two years later came out of retirement and was knocked out in the 11th round for the vacant super middleweight title of Guyana by Anthony Andrews. He came in for that fight at 167 and his opponent at 166.
Andrews subsequently gave up the title and Harris fought again for the vacant light heavyweight title on July 25, 1998 and was knocked out in the seventh round by the former World Boxing Association Cruiserweight title Wayne `Big Truck’ Braithwaite.
Harris has won six of his 14 title bouts including local titles; Fecarbox Latin America and World titles.
He has never successfully defended any of his titles abroad. He has fought 21 times abroad and won six, lost 12 and drew one. Andrews won his first of four local titles on February 21, 1984 when he knocked out Guyana’s only Olympic Games bronze medalist Michael Parris in the 11th round to win the bantamweight title of Guyana.
He won his second title on May 27, 1991 against Barrington Cambridge for the welterweight title of Guyana for which he won on points. He won his third title on December 4 1993 knocking out Wayne Harris for the middleweight title of Guyana.
He then went on to win his fourth title against the same opponent on March 3, 1996, where once again he knocked out Harris in the 11th round to win the super middleweight title of Guyana.
Andrews has never defended his bantamweight, middleweight and super middleweight titles but defended his welterweight title once losing to Michael Benjamin by a TKO in four rounds on January 19, 1992.
He has fought 15 times abroad, won two and drew one.
Has fought 12 times for titles and apart from the four national titles, he has also won the WBA Fedalatin Super Middleweight title.
He also fought Jorge Castro for the WBA middleweight title on May 27 1995 in what I consider one of the best challenges by a Guyanese for a world title fight that I have ever seen.
On another note, as I mentioned in a previous article, Lionel Gibbs was the first and only Guyanese boxer to hold three national titles simultaneously, welterweight, middleweight and light heavyweight in 1926, 1935 and 1940.
Sports Editor’s Note:Eion Jardine is the chairman of the record and ratings committee of the Guyana Boxing Board of Control.