Foreman, Sugar Ray invited to TT

This was revealed by Allan Ferguson, former national middleweight champion who is the chairman of the Organising Commmittee for the regional slugfest which will be staged at the Chaguaramas Convention Centre.

Ferguson said discussions are ongoing with the two former boxing greats who have both expressed a keen interest in visiting Trinidad and Tobago for the annual regional championships.

Ferguson, a well-known central Trinidad businessman said the internationally recognised American stars will give the championships a much-needed boost and add interest to the competition.

He said the boxers, both American television personalities, will also be involved in several motivational visits to crime hotspots such as Morvant/Laventille and Diego Martin to talk to young residents.

Also planned are sessions with the inmates of the Youth Training Centre and the St Mary’s Home in Tacarigua.

“We are hoping that their visit will contribute to helping keep the young people focused on living a trouble-free life and to lead them away from crime,” said Ferguson.

He said the sport of boxing has been misunderstood as being too violent and of no useful purpose to society.

“There are many lessons that boxing can teach us.

The first is that the discilpine that is needed to be a boxer can be applied to all walks of life. Boxing takes hard work, commitment and focus. Also one must be very aware of maintaining a healthy lifestyle,” said Ferguson.

He also pointed out that contrary to popular opinion, boxing is one of the safest sports in the world as the most rigid standards have been applied over the years.

“We now have a range of safety gear and referees have been suitably trained to ensure that no harm be done to either boxer in the ring,” said Ferguson.

The ex-national fighter said what was needed is a educational campaign highlighting the positive elements of the sport which could also serve to attract young, healthy athletes to the sweet science.

Ferguson said Government has been partnering with the Amateur Boxing Association (ABA) in their effort to elevate the standard of boxing in Trinidad and Tobago with infusions of funds which have had good results.

He now called on the business community to come forward to assist his committee in bringing Foreman and Sugar Ray Leonard to the CABA Championships and ensure the regional championships are a success.

“We need to embrace this opportunity very positively and put our best foot forward.

I think that all corporate organisations would love to be associated with Foreman and Sugar Ray Leonard as it lends value to their product especially if they are being seen as contributing to the upliftment of our young people,” said Ferguson.

He said his committee is currently putting forward proposals to attract the involvement of business people to bring Foreman and Sugar Ray Leonard to Trinidad and Tobago and is hopeful the project would be successful.

Ferguson said initially his committee wanted to get Muhammad Ali, regarded as the greatest athlete ever.

However the health of the former world champion was a major concern which ruled him out of visiting Trinidad and Tobago for only the second time.

Ferguson said Cuba’s best known boxer Teofilo Stevenson has also been approached to come and there is every likelihood that he will be joining Foreman and Sugar Ray Leonard at the CABA Championships.

“We would also like Stevenson to visit the schools and talk to the children, to give them some inspiration and motivation. This is what we need now,” said Ferguson.

He said the Organising Committee is also hoping to have the CABA Championships televised on NCC Channel 4 “live” with the expectation that the broadcast will also be offered to other television stations throughout the Caribbean.

“We are better prepared for the CABA Championships this year than we were two years ago when we accepted it on short notice. We are going to make it the biggest and best ever,” vowed Ferguson.

He also held out high expectation for the national amateur boxing team which recently returned from the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia.

Although they did not get a medal, Ferguson said they learned valuable lessons and he wished that a full squad be kept in training to be in a state of high readiness for CABA since the hosts will be entered in all categories and must put on a good show for the home fans.

But he reiterated that most of the planning depends on financial assistance and is appealing to the business community to step up and be associated with this regional venture for boxing and the nation’s young people.