Saluting a new Guyanese hero
Editorial
AT 1.13 minutes of the seventh round of a championship boxing match held in Las Vegas on Saturday night, a new hero of Guyana was created. Andrew `Six Heads' Lewis, the boy from Albouystown, Guyana, employed dazzling glovesight to vanquish American James Page for the title of the World Boxing Association welterweight champion of the world. Guyanese, especially those watching the bout on big screen in the South of Georgetown, erupted in celebration and glee. They were understandably proud that a little black boy from a depressed, and sometimes, forgotten area of this land, had etched his country's name in the annals of world championship boxing.
And one day after the nation honoured Andrew `Six Heads' Lewis with a national holiday proclaimed by President Bharrat Jagdeo, this column would like to salute the new hero of the nation and wish him well in his career.
Talent, we know, is not enough for a sportsman to find his place in the international arena. Athletes have to be focused on their goals while they endure years of training and disciplined work. They have to get a toe in the door of the right boxing camp in order to catch the eye of a good trainer. Some of our boxers undergo years of slugging it out as sparring partners for rising stars before they are offered openings in supporting bouts on routine cards, much less big championship fights. Boxing gear are expensive and good trainers require hefty fees. Boxers have to support themselves and, sometimes send money home on a regular basis to support their loved ones. Although it seems like a small fortune, the US$200,000 that Lewis will collect for Saturday night's bout, will no doubt, disappear in minutes when his manager tables the bills that have to be paid for all manner of services.
That is why we were particularly impressed to learn that Lewis will spend only a few days in Guyana when he is scheduled to visit in another two weeks. He has to be in training camp shortly in order to prepare to defend his new title on April 28. This bit of information sends the happy signal that Lewis will not be celebrating his success to the point that he neglects his training regimen. Too often, we have witnessed the degree to which success and wealth can be counter-productive to an athlete's career. The rich and famous boxer can be his on nemesis if he neglects his discipline, panders to the praise of his hangers-on and wallow in the fleshpots of pleasure. Such athletes soon cease to be worthy warriors in the ring, and as they slide downhill into ignominy, their so-called friends disappear and they end up in penury.
A boxer's career is virtually over by his mid-30s. We would like to see Andrew `Six Heads' Lewis make the most of the years he has by maintaining a solid training regimen, honing his pugilist's skills and acquiring new techniques that would stand him in good stead in future international encounters. He has brought glory to Guyana, and the entire nation is proud of his victory. We applaud President Jagdeo for promising Lewis a plot of land and a house. Let the Government go even further and decorate Guyana's newest hero with a National Award when he arrives home next month. It would be a fitting salute to Andrew `Six Heads' Lewis, the world welterweight champion.
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