tyrone Downes: still packing a good punch, wants to train the future hopefuls.

by MIKE KING

TYRONE DOWNES, the best pound for pound boxer this country has ever produced, is back home and says he wants to give the sport an added punch with his technical expertise.

Downes, 51, a former Commonwealth featherweight champion who was once ranked No. 1 contender by the World Boxing Association (WBA), is back home after spending the last 17 years in New York.

"I always wanted to come back to take boxing to another level. We should have amateur fights here at least once a month to develop the sport. I am here for that reason.

"I want to give the youngsters my expertise. I was blessed with plenty of talent and I just don't want it to go down the drain. I want to share it with my people.

"I want to work with the amateur boxing association to take the sport forward. There have been some bright spots over the past few years, but we can do better. We need to do something here with boxing," said Downes, who won 35 out of 45 pro fights.

Downes, who was good enough to earn a world title shot in 1988 against Australian Jeff Fenech, said he was disappointed that Barbados will not have a single representative in the Olympic ring in Beijing.

"It would have been nice to have at least one fighter at the Olympics. Barbados has a lot of fine fighters who are capable of going far. It is not out of their reach. If Tyrone Downes could do it, I am sure others can," he said.

Downes was impressed with fast-rising 20-year-old Miguel "Hands of Stone" Antoine, who has won all nine of his pro fights.

"I have seen Antoine in the gym and he is a good fighter. I am teaching him a thing or two. He told me, he needs a man like me to be around here. I have sparred with him and he is looking good.

"The guys have to take boxing seriously. In my days, I took boxing seriously. I used to run from town to country. I don't have time to play around. Some of the guys are fooling around, but for sure we have some good fighters and I am here to make sure they achieve their goal.

"I am not going anywhere. There is no place like home. When I fought for the world title I represented Barbados. This country means a lot to me."

His duel in Melbourne with the then unbeaten world champion Fenech was a bizarre one. He cut Fenech and appeared to have had the edge after the first three rounds, but fell apart in the fifth round when the Australian hit him and the fight was stopped.

Fenech was just 24 at the time, Downes was 31.

"I was ahead on the scorecards right down the line until he started to get dirty. When he got dirty, I started to lose hope. I actually quit and that is not me."

A product of St Joseph, Downes was born in Horse Hill and raised in Parris Hill and Bathsheba. He turned professional a week away from his 18th birthday after just two amateur fights, both of which he lost to Trevor Evelyn at the YMCA.

"After those two amateur fights, I went to the gym and trained very hard under the guidance of Ian Sealy, and after that no amateur would fight me so I had to turn pro."

Downes beat the pride of Grazettes, Norman Yearwood twice in back to back months (June and July 1977) and Hurricane Jackson in January 1978, so that at age 20 he had collected Barbados featherweight and lightweight belts.

"I had the featherweight and lightweight titles and wanted to put on weight to fight Cassius Clay. I wanted to be a three-time
champion in Barbados. I know I could have beaten Cassius because I was faster than him and I sparred with him and always was on top.

"I always used to be fit. When those boys got tired, I was now ready to go. In my last few fights, I may have been a bit shaky, but in the early days I was very dedicated to my sport."

Downes, who shares the same birthday (February 24) as the world's best pound for pound fighter Floyd Mayweather, is currently staying in Brittons Hill, St Michael.