by Shirley Thomas
Guyana Chronicle
May 22, 2001
IN KEEPING with a promise made to the people of Guyana recently, the first of two new gymnasia is soon to be built in Albouystown - the village from whence most of the boxers in Guyana hail.
President Bharrat Jagdeo made the offer of the two new gymnasia on February 18 last, just hours after Andrew `Six Head' Lewis had won the WBA World Welterweight title in Las Vegas, defeating his opponent James Page.
Lewis, who hails from Albouystown, started his career and continued his training in the Young Achievers Gym on Independence Boulevard, Albouystown.
As part of the programme of activities to coincide with the current homecoming of `Six Head' following his victory, the gym which has given rise to a host of boxing champions in Guyana and the Caribbean under coaches Kanchie and Keith Bazilio, was on Saturday renamed the `Andrew Six Head Lewis Gym'.
At a ceremony to mark the renaming, Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green also announced that Independence Boulevard would be renamed the `Andrew Six Head Lewis Boulevard'.
The ceremony, which attracted a large gathering of persons from Albouystown and neighbouring communities - youth in the majority - was also attended by guest of honour, Lewis; fiancee, Georgia Ried; Prime Minister Samuel Hinds; Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Gail Teixeira; President of the Guyana Olympic Association and Guyana Amateur Boxing Association, Mr. K. Juman Yassin; veteran boxing coach, Kanchie and promoters Bazilio, Odinga Lumumba and others.
Outlining plans for the gymnasia to be built in South Georgetown and North Georgetown, Lumumba said that arrangements are being made for a contractor to be assigned the job of building a two-storey complex, which, it is hoped, should be addressed before the boxing champion leaves the country.
Moreover, he said, to lusty cheers: "The roads will be fixed; this whole area would be fixed and water supply installed."
Lumumba said the gym will also provide dormitory facilities for as many as 10 amateur fighters travelling to Guyana from around the Caribbean; executive rooms for overseas trainers and for Lewis if needed; lockers, bathrooms, a kitchen and all modern conveniences for the boxers in training; modern commercial equipment; and accommodation for a caretaker who will oversee the building, among other things.
But crucial to all this, Lumumba said, is the proper care of the building and the forming of an efficient committee to monitor its affairs.
Minister Teixeira said the project was a dream come true, noting that it will take some time to get all the facilities in and the management up and ready.
She said that the facility would be an honour for `Six Head' Lewis and for all the other boxers of Guyana who have represented the country over many decades.
Congratulating the young man who has brought Guyana glory in the eyes of the world, Teixeira said she truly believed that the country can produce many more `Six Heads'. But she noted that it would require the working together of the Guyana Boxing Association, the Boxing Board, the Ministry of Sports and other such authorities.
"If we work together, we can find boxers in this country," she said.
She recalled seeing young men in Guyana with the qualities of Oscar De La Hoya. "But we do need our facilities, and we do need to train," she affirmed.
The minister, congratulating `Six Head', told him that he had become a great role model for Guyanese "not only because he won the world title, but because of who he is."
"He is an extremely special person," Teixeira said, adding that she has great admiration for him as a young Guyanese and as "a person who has fought against all the odds, and as a young role model for Guyanese."
President of the Boxing Board, Mr. K. D. Persaud commended the initiative and said he would like to see smaller gyms set up in other areas such as Berbice and Linden.