–‘Pocket Rocket’ on boxing, the way forward

MANY youths residing in neglected communities on the Wismar shore such as Victory Valley, have fallen prey to unconstructive activities which in some cases is the start of a criminal life.
With limited motivation, job opportunities, poor families and stigmatisation, many of these youths become victims to unfortunate social phenomena such as teenage pregnancy, school drop outs, drug addiction and gambling.
Veteran professional boxer Orlon Rogers, who is a Wismar resident, decided to use his expertise to create change in the lives of these youths.
Orlon, who is known in the ring as ‘Pocket Rocket’, was saved from going down the wayward road after commencing his boxing career in 1991. He then became professional in 2001, and took the opportunity to commence coaching young Lindeners, so he opened his first gym in the community of One Mile.
Over the years, ‘Pocket Rocket’ has taken many youths off the streets, who themselves became champions and professionals.
Said he: “Over the years, I have many successes. I have two champions; I also have the best set of amateur boxers in Guyana that came out of my hands, and presently, a whole core of them are in the Guyana Defence Force.”

From 2005 to 2013, he took a sabbatical from Linden and headed to Berbice, where he not only practised his skill as a contractor, but also opened a gym which reaped many successes, including copping seven Best Gym awards from the Guyana Boxing Association.
In 2013, he returned to Linden and opened a gym in Victory Valley, which is presently housed in the area’s Community Centre. ‘Pocket Rocket’ has been using the Linden Town Week period to recruit youths in these communities who would have expressed a willingness to box and after a period of training, they join the team.
Many of these youths have participated in international competitions and represented the Golden Arrowhead well, many times returning home as champions. “Presently, I have the Super Bantamweight Champion Richard Williamson and the Super Middleweight Champion Derick Richmond,” ‘Pocket Rocket’ said, adding:
“I have three sets of top amateur boxers: We have Akea Lamazon who is the WBC amateur female champion, and Duel Augustine, who got the youth best boxer award last year.” Lamazon and Augustine are 16 and 18 years old respectively, and are just two of the many Lindeners who have already turned heads in the boxing arena in the Caribbean.
“We have from Victory Valley, Blue Berry Hill, Block 22, Christianburg and two from Mackenzie.”

A DISCIPLINED SPORT
Refuting the popular belief that boxing is a violent sport, ‘Pocket Rocket’ said that on the contrary, it is one of the most disciplined sports that actually helps one to garner the skills of self-control while simultaneously teaching one self defence mechanisms.
“I would not have it as a violent sport; I tell my students, ‘You cannot have any confrontation on the streets.’ It’s also a part of self-defence as well, but I tell them to walk away, because, as a boxer, you know places where to hit someone that can hurt them,” he explained, adding that boxing also assists persons to be well rounded and boost their academic performance.

“I have a young man who has a distinction in English; it helps a lot; the discipline also helps them to aid in preventing fights as well.” ‘Pocket’ added.
Despite there is limited sponsorship for boxing in Linden, ‘Pocket Rocket’ has plans to expand the sport; to have more youths involved and to even have it integrated into the school system where youths can pursue the sport at the CSEC level. “I want to go at various schools and start a boxing workshop, but I haven’t received any response from the Ministry as yet,” he revealed.
The coach is also hoping to establish a modernised gym in Linden, since the only two there are currently are make-shift. With land available and the skills to construct, ‘Pocket Rocket’ is hoping to establish a modernised gym, and is hoping that the government will provide the funds to do so. He believes that the government should do more for boxing, not only in Linden but nationally, since proponents of the sport have done Guyana proud umpteen times.
“When you look at sports in Guyana, the only sport that brings glory to Guyana is boxing,” he said, adding:

“I can call numerous championships; the only medal that came from the Olympics in Guyana is boxing, so I really think the government should pour more into it.”
The veteran boxer will be retiring next year but has no plans in the near future to stop promoting boxing in Linden, which is helping youths to gravitate to something useful. He also commenced a fortnightly boxing exhibition at the Ice Rock Club in Mackenzie, which is on the second and last Tuesday of every month. The young boxers use that opportunity to showcase their talents.