Lara beaten in bid for boxing gloves

THE AUCTIONING of a pair of Lennox Lewis autographed boxing gloves almost turned into an actual boxing match between West Indies cricket captain, Brian Lara and businessman Andy Gomez-Burke at the Celebrity Golf Classic awards ceremony last Saturday at the Hilton, Tobago. Lewis, who was scheduled to attend the charity event but was unable to, donated the gloves for auctioning with the proceeds going toward two local charities, the Cotton Tree Foundation and the Tobago Oasis Foundation. Bidding began at $1,000 and went fast and furious as Gomez-Burke and former Finance Minister Selby Wilson initially battled for ownership. However, during the latter part of the auction, Lara “bought over the fight” from Wilson. Gomez-Burke, who made a final bid of TT$16,500, eventually took the gloves home.

In an interview after the auction, Gomez-Burke said the gloves were worth every penny spent and more and that he intended to hang them in his office. “Lennox Lewis is the greatest boxer of my time. Now, Muhammad Ali is the greatest boxer of all time but these are the best gloves in the world,” he declared. The auction brought down the curtains on the inaugural Trinidad and Tobago Carnival Celebrity Golf Classic produced by Island Events.Com. Politicians and businessmen rubbed shoulders with international celebrities including actress Gabrielle Union, MTV Veejay Ananda Lewis, actor Dorien Wilson, and West Indies cricketers Brian Lara, Desmond Haynes and Ian Bishop to help raise funds and awareness for the Cotton Tree Foundation and the Tobago Oasis Foundation. The two-day event, which kicked off on Thursday, was well patronised by locals who came out in large numbers to see their favourite celebrities tee off and to learn more about the programmes the Cotton Tree Foundation and the Tobago Oasis Foundation have created for abandoned and HIV/AIDS infected children.

At the end of the event, the Island Events.Com-sponsored team of Derrick Faria and Anthony Young Sing emerged the winners to take the Jean Innis Memorial Trophy, two golf bags courtesy Carlsberg and a one week vacation package from the Hilton Tobago, among other prizes. The Tobago House of  Assembly team of Carlos “Sexy” Baynes and Fritz Neptune placed second and won two tickets to any American Airlines destination. “Sexy” Baynes also won two tickets to any BWIA destination for having the longest drive. In third position was the VEMCO-sponsored team of David Ablack and Harvey Mohammed, while DirecTV-sponsored Farouk Bhopa and Dave Mohammed placed fourth and Jack Azar and Jesse Jattan, who were sponsored by the THA, took the fifth spot. Selby Wilson won the special prize for Best Dressed Golfer and the Wished I’d Stayed At Home (WIDSAH) prize went to actor Dorien Wilson. No one won the “Hole in One” prize of a BMW 800 Series car.