JA CAN CAPITALIZE ON ‘AXEMAN’ SUCCESS

World Boxing Association (WBA)Featherweight Fedalatin champion Nicolas Walters outclassed Irving Berry in Panama on Saturday night to put himself in line for a world title shot. He also gave Jamaica another reminder that the time has long come for sports to be put on the front burner as an economic driver for this country’s ailing economy.

Jamaica has produced many outstanding world class boxers. From Bunny Grant to Richard ‘Shrimpy’ Clarke to Mike ‘The Body Snatcher’ McCallum to Glen Johnson, this little island has had a long line of boxers that have captured the imagination of the country and the world during their respective careers. As such, Jamaicans have long been fans of boxing, quality boxing. This love of boxing has led to the success of the Contender, the made-for-television boxing elimination contest that ended in May this year. The programme that aired on Wednesday nights captured the imagination of the Jamaican audience and lured hundreds of people to the Chinese Benevolent Association building each week.

However, the last Jamaican champion to really captivate the Jamaican audience was perhaps Mike McCallum during the 1980s. Glen Johnson has taken on the best the world has to offer and has acquitted himself well, earning the respect of boxers and pundits alike, but perhaps because of his quiet persona, he doesn’t generate that buzz needed to make himself a star among his own people.  Jamaica currently has several boxers, Johnson included, former and current champions, on the world stage but none of them possesses the qualities that can really captivate the Jamaican audience like Nicholas Walters. The young man is brash and possesses exciting skills that are still being honed but are good enough to see him become world champion one day soon.

Berry, who was highly ranked by the WBA and who used to beat up on Walters when the Jamaican – just coming into the sport then – was a sparring partner. Saturday night Walters showed how far he has come since then beating Berry into submission by round six. He then declared that he wants a crack at the WBA featherweight world title held by Celestino Caballero. Yes, Walters displays a kind of confidence that makes Jamaicans uncomfortable (Usain Bolt also brings about a similar reaction) but it is intrinsic to what makes a champion. He is the perfect platform on which Jamaica can get boxing back into the mainstream.

The only problem is that Walters, who is unbeaten in 19 professional fights,  lives and trains in Panama and has almost exclusively fought there his entire professional career. The only time he did not fight in Panama was on July 16 when he fought here in Jamaica, his first ever fight on his home soil. Should Walters fight here more often or if Jamaica through the Jamaica Boxing Board can negotiate for and stage a fight between Walters, the Axeman and Caballero, it would certainly bring the spotlight on Jamaica as a possible venue for world championship fights and as a possible location for upcoming boxers to prepare for their shots at world titles.

It is true that boxing has been in a state of decline over the past decade or so but as boxers like Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather, Bernard Hopkins and others have proven good quality boxers will bring the sport back. Jamaica, a country blessed with immense sporting talent, is the perfect place to start that process and the JBBC can get that process going with a little help from Government.

I am sure Stephen Jones, president of the JBBC, is already hatching a plan to get a world title fight here for Walters but it will take the support and vision of potential sponsors to make such an event a reality. Sponsors and the Ministry of Sports need to recognize the potential benefits of such a venture, both in the short and long term. Work should start now in making Walters a household name here in Jamaica and to enhance his growing image on the international stage.