Leroy Brown, Gleaner Writer

A pledge to do everything in his power to make the Commonwealth boxing titles as prestigious as they used to be was made by Bahamian Fred Sturrup after he was elected president of the Commmonwealth Boxing Council (CBC) recently in London, England.

The election was one of the highlights of the annual general meeting of the council, which was held at the Commonwealth Secretariat, Marlborough House, London and was officially opened by secretary general of the Commonwealth, Kamalesh Sharma.

Sturrup, who is the secretary of the Bahamas Boxing Commission and president of the Pan Caribbean Boxing Organisation, was nominated by Jamaica and had to shake off the challenges of two Africans, Moses Foh-Amoaning from Ghana and Onesmo Ngowi of Tanzania. He will serve a two-year term.

Englishman Eric Armit was re-elected chairman of the council.

stepping stone

Reflecting on the present status of Commonwealth titles, Sturrup pointed to the fact that, years ago, these titles were second only to world titles and were seen as the stepping stone to a world title challenge. This has changed in recent times, partly because of the proliferation of 'world titles'.

It is his opinion, however, that despite this, Commonwealth title fights, if properly promoted, can be money-spinners once more and this would, therefore, be the main focus of his administration.

The only Caribbean boxer who is now a Commonwealth champion is Jermain Mackey from The Bahamas, who won the super-middleweight title in July this year. He is scheduled to defend his title early in 2009.

Sturrup is of the view that he can use his presidency to foster the rebirth of professional boxing in the Caribbean and to spearhead more contact with boxers from Africa and Europe, as was the case in the 1960s and 70s.

"This could be a great time for reconnection between these continents and the Americas," he said, adding that "... all it needs is hard work and close cooperation. I will be making an effort, over the next two years, to bridge the gap that now exists between our nations."

Several Jamaican boxers have won Commonwealth titles over the years, the most notable being Bunny Grant and Percy Hayles, who were lightweight champions in the 60s.

Trevor Berbick won the Commonwealth heavyweight title in 1981 before becoming world champion and Lloyd Honeyghan held both the Commonwealth welterweight and light-middleweight titles, before also becoming a world champion.

Grant won the title for the first time in 1962 when he scored a great upset victory over Englishman Dave Charnley at the National Stadium to give Jamaica a wonderful Independence present.