Guyana’s first Commonwealth boxing champion, Lennox Blackmore is elated that the Guyana Boxing Association (GBA) has decided to honour him by naming its Intermediate boxing championships after him.
Blackmore, who won the British Commonwealth lightweight title on October 1, 1977 after defeating Nigerian Jonathan Dele on points in Lagos, Nigeria, has seen the GBA rename its initiative ‘The Lennox Blackmore Intermediate Championships.’
“I’m very much honored to have a championship named after me,” the US-based Blackmore told this publication yesterday.
Blackmore, who had a professional record of 25 wins and five losses added:“It’s a great feeling that the association has remembered me and others so that the Guyanese people would remember us in some sort of positive way.”
Blackmore, 65, challenged for the World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight title against Aaron Pryor and World Boxing Council (WBC) FECARBOX light welterweight title against Antonio Cervantes in 1981.
President of the GBA, Steve Ninvalle opined that Blackmore ranks among the top five of all-time Guyanese prize fighters. “Many may disagree but that is an opinion many of us in the association share.”
Note: The naming of the championships after Blackmore is the continuation of the GBA’s small way of paying homage to prize fighters who kept the Golden Arrowhead flying high. The Novices Championships earlier this month was named after Guyana’s first world champion, Andrew ‘Sixhead’ Lewis while the U-16 Championships have been named after Guyana’s lone Olympic medalist, Mike Parris.
Quizzed on who the National Open Championships should be named after, Blackmore opined that Terrence Ali is deserving of that honor since he “was one of the first to fight for a world title and he carried Guyana’s name around the world.”
The intermediate championships is billed September 18 and 19 at the California Square.
