Dear Editor,
The sad passing of Guyana’s former world welterweight champion, Andrew ‘Six Head’ Lewis moved me to recall a night spent privileged to have enjoyed a fiesta of fighting at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, Georgetown.
Andrew Lewis was Guyana’s first boxing world champion, retiring with a creditable 23-4-2 record that included Ricardo Mayorga and Antonio Margarito. Twenty of his 23 victories were early finishes and at his peak condition, in 2001, he offered some spark in the welterweight division. He ended his career back in 2008, some way past his prime with a split decision loss to the faded but bigger and still tough fellow Guyanese Howard Eastman.
On 30 March 2012 Lewis was a ringside presence as Simeon ‘Candyman’ Hardy eventually vanquished the tough local Mark Austin in the eighth round of an eight-round contest. The seats were rattled hard as the crowd roared, stamped and thumped. The boombox shook with Caribbean sound waves. Hardy was the up and coming star – who would go on to best Eastman twice – but learned the value of patience as his opponent stood firm under rapid fire.
Hardy now fights in America, having relocated to Oxnard to train under Robert Garcia before moving across to the East Coast of New York. Brooklyn to be precise; where Lewis himself relocated to in his prime. Despite a recent points loss, Hardy still has the tools to progress towards the upper reaches – ensuring he maintains his fitness and focus.
That night in 2012, Lewis looked a little over his fighting weight but carried a genial swagger, his sunglasses draped off the back of his dome. He wandered around the sports court, gathering the occasional cry of “Hey, Six Head!” A broad smile cracked across his face each time, belying his cool demeanour.
There was talk of a comeback at that stage, though at 41 that sounded fanciful. As with all retired, forced or through choice, there would always be a sense of ‘what next?’ One wonders what or where Lewis went after that night as we later filed out into the thick, humid dark air. Hardy eventually boarded a plane to the States, while Howard Eastman – a thread between the two fighters – continues to grind on the fight scene, grizzled but stubborn.
Andrew Lewis – Guyana’s first boxing champion, rest in peace.
Yours faithfully,
Gary Vyse,
Liverpool,
England
