-Blackmoore

By Marlon Munroe

Local boxing icon Lennox Blackmoore believes that more resources need to be put into the sport if it is to return to the high level it once was.

In an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport, Blackmoore said that the sport has drastically declined from when he boxed and opined that it is due to the half- hearted or no support it has received over the years from “whoever is in charge”.

He did not qualify his statement. However, later in the interview he said that the government needs to be integrally involved in the process of helping to lift the sport to where it once was. From the outside looking in, he does not feel that boxing has not gotten the support that cricket has received.

He made the compelling comparison to illustrate that boxing has brought more glory to Guyana than cricket or any other sport. Boxing yielded six world champions and an Olympic bronze medal for Guyana, he said.

“They are not putting [anything] much into boxing like they have done for cricket. They should put more into boxing too because it was the thing that put Guyana on the map. Michael Parris was the first man to win an Olympic medal for Guyana.” “The boxing is still there it is just we are looking for a hand”, the former Guyana light middleweight champion contended.

Blackmoore, who lost to an unbeaten Aaron Pryor in June of 1981 in his first and only bid for the WBA World light welterweight title, said that he will be making some recommendations to local officials while he is in Guyana. On the other hand, he said that  the best talents he has seen in Guyana for the past five years have been world rated bantamweight fighter Leon ‘Hurry Up’ Moore and WIBA bantamweight champion Shondell ‘Mystery Lady’ Alfred.  Alfred will soon be defending her world title on May 2 against Corrine ‘Sexy Panther’ De Groot. Blackmoore, who is the trainer of world champions, including Vivian Harris, believes that Guyana has abundant talent but there needs to be a conscious effort to resuscitate amateur boxing. His observation comes weeks after National Boxing Coach Wincel Thomas expressed some disenchantment over the technique of amateur boxers.

Further, Blackmoore, who had a distinguished tale-of-the-tape record of 25 wins with 14 Kos against the backdrop of five losses, maintained that for there to have prized professional fighters there needs to be a solid amateur rank.

The former Commonwealth British Empire lightweight champion quipped that “from amateurs you get good pros”. Further, the 59-year-old who trains fighters out of the world famous Gleeson’s Gym in New York City, said that while he lives abroad he will lend his expertise whenever he can.

Meanwhile, when Stabroek Sport enquired what gave him the motivation he bluntly said that he “never liked the sport of boxing for me; I liked what I could get from boxing – money. He said his first passions were football and cricket but later found out that he was naturally talented in the ring and he decided to commit to the fistic sport.
Blackmoore said he first started boxing at the East Ruimveldt Boxing Gym one afternoon after a game of football in 1971 when he was spotted by former national coach the late Courtney Atherley, who encouraged him to join a gym. Soon afterwards, he joined Salem Gym and six weeks later he fought in the junior welterweight division at the National Championships and lost. He then took a three-year hiatus from the sport.

He turned pro after three fights as an amateur. He credited this shift to his confidence as a fighter. He said he believes that there is no substitute for talent and skill. His first pro fight was against Kid Carrington on January 27, 1974 which he won by a unanimous decision.

On June 15, 1975 he knocked out Terry Greene in round 14 to lift the Guyana lightweight title before going on to win the Commonwealth British Empire lightweight title against Jonathan Dele in Lagos, Nigeria on October 1, 1977; he later lost that title against Hogan Jimoh on October 24, 1978.

He closed his illustrious career with a win over Wayne Harris for the Guyanese middleweight title on June 15, 1986.