Today’s inductee into Stabroek Sports’ Boxing’s Hall-of-Fame is none other than the late Andrew`Sixhead’ Lewis.
Simply put, Lewis is the first boxer fighting under the Golden Arrowhead to win a world title.
Lewis triumphed where others such as Lennox Blackmore, the late Patrick Forde, Andrew Murray Jnr, Terrence Alli and others had failed.
That auspicious occasion took place February 17, 2001 at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas and resulted in a TKO victory for Lewis and the title of World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight champion.
At that time, unlike now, there were only a few boxing organisations and the WBA and the World Boxing Council (WBC) were the most respected.
Small wonder that the now universally respected welterweight champion, returned home to a hero’s welcome.
He was wined and dined and everyone wanted to meet and greet or even touch, the Albouyston lad who was champion of the world. He received a plot of land and cash from the then PPP/C government but shortly before his untimely death he had ventured into politics if one can call being openly supportive of the APNU/AFC coalition, political venturing.
Lewis was born December 14, 1970 and grew up in Albouystown, which may or may not have been responsible for the swagger with which he walked.
Boxing for him was a way out of his environment and George `Canchie’ Oprecht was to be the visionary who would lead him to boxing glory as an amateur.
He showed early promise as an amateur boxer winning a gold medal at the Caribbean Amateur Boxing Championships in Martinique in 1990. He also won a silver medal again in 1990 at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Games in Mexico City Mexico from November 24-December 3, losing to Cuba’s Candelario Duvergel, in the light welterweight division.
Two years later Lewis sought to join the illustrious company of one Michael Anthony Parris by winning a medal at the Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea in 1992 but failed, narrowly defeated by Andreas Otto of Germany.
He subsequently turned professional in 1993 and was managed for a while by Compton Beckles, known more for horse and motor racing, where his son Levar Beckles was a champion.
In his debut professional bout he faced wily veteran Fitzroy Davidson who had built up quite a reputation for himself. The fight took place on February 28, 1993 but Davidson proved no match for the rising star and suffered a TKO in the second round of their fight at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
Apart from a drawn encounter against Han Kim on June 26, 1994 at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, Lewis was undefeated over the next several years winning 22 fights including his defeat of WBA champion James Page.
Among his victims were, Patrick Farley, Marcelle Daniels, Calvin John, Ashton Wilson and Terrence Alli whom he knocked out in the second round on September 14, 1996 at the Georgetown Cricket Club, Bourda, for the vacant national welterweight title.
Lewis continued to rack up the wins after his defeat of Alli and boxers such as Stephan Johnson, Gabriel Perez, Leon Rouse, Tony Seledin, Gerald Reed, Rafael Williams, Teddy Reid, John Stewart, Alex Lubo, Damone Wright and Sebastien Valdez all fell by the wayside.
After defeating Page, Lewis made a successful defence on April 28, 2001 against Larry Marks winning a 12-round decision.
However, his career was beginning to unravel as he fell foul of the `King’ of boxing promotion, the legendary Don King.
King was incensed that Lewis had left his camp and defected to Bob Arum’s, Top Rank, King’s promotional rival.
King swore that Lewis would lose his belt among other things and so said so done as Lewis lost his title to the wild, reckless and cigar smoking Nicaraguan Ricardo Mayorga.
The first fight with Mayorga in July of 2001, was a no-contest after Lewis suffered a bad cut due to an accidental head butt. In the return match Lewis found himself on the wrong end of Mayorga’s swings and lost by a TKO in round five.
Thereafter Lewis’ career nosedived. Whereas the first half of his career was brilliant, the second part was lacklustre.
He challenged unsuccessfully Antonio Margarita for the WBO welterweight title and lost.
Winning the light middleweight title of Guyana defeating `Deadly’ Denny Dalton on April 7, 2007 seemed scant consolation. His trilogy with Dalton was marred by defeat when he inexplicably quit on his stool whilst leading in the second fight after the first ended in a technical draw.
After Dalton, Lewis went up in weight to fight Howard `The Battersea Bomber’ Eastman.
Lewis retired in 2008 and died May 4 2015 in a vehicular accident at the relatively young age of 44, like Andrew Murray Jnr., before him, who also died in a vehicular accident.
There are conflicting reports about his death but despite having the trappings following his fairly lucrative career, Lewis was riding a bicycle at the time.
He came from Albouystown, conquered the world but was just another humble person at heart.
A boxing Hall-of-Fame was established at the gym that bears his name and today this newspaper posthumously inducts him into their Hall-of-Fame.
May his memory live on and on.
