Thursday, July 16, 2009

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Legendary boxing pioneer 'Yama Bahama' dead at 76 BY FRED STURRUP ~ NG Associate Editor ~ frederick@nasguard.com: My cellular telephone rang. It was a very somber voice on the other end. "He passed." The voice belonged to Carol Smith-Gomez and she was referring to her "dear, beloved" Uncle Willie. Yes, William Horathio 'Yama Bahama' Butler Jr. has gone on into eternity. Death is so awesome and so final. Man has never been able to get a grip on death and never will. All we know is, that die we must. Accordingly, the Bahamian sports ambassador supreme, our first television star made his exit from this life Monday in a Miami, Florida hospital. His heart simply failed. Yama's body was riddled with cancer but like the big-hearted warrior he was, he fought his latest opponent for as long as he could. Around 1:30 p.m. on Monday the end came. His legacy however will live on. Yama led the way for a good bunch of Bahamian professional boxers. First after him on the international scene was his cousin Gomeo Brennan, another Bimini native. Then Vogal 'Bobo' Reckley and 'Sugar' Cliff campaigned out of Florida. 'Baby Boy' Rolle fought in the United States and Europe. Wendall Newton fought out of New York and later on, another generation of boxers, led by Elisha Obed, carried the Bahamian flag valiantly in foreign rings. After Obed, it was Ray Minus Jr., Steve Larrimore and Freeman Barr. Today, making international strides for The Bahamas are Sherman 'Tank' Williams, Jermaine Mackey, Meacher Major, Jerome Ellis, and Edner Cherry. Paving the way for all of them was 'Yama Bahama'. He was the golden television fighter of Madison Square Garden in New York. In an age when it was a novelty item, the name 'Yama Bahama' of The Bahamas was being announced over radio waves regularly from the Garden. A trailblazer of a special kind, he was. A true patriot he was, also. Always well-liked and respected, when he closed out his career in 1967, Yama had close contacts throughout Florida, Michigan and New York and associates in several other states. He had business offers and could have remained in the United States, but for him, there was "no place like home" and it was back to Bimini. He was very much a human landmark, synonymous with Bimini. For years, many tourists, once in Bimini, wanted to interact with 'Yama Bahama'. No price could be placed on his value to the marketing of Bimini and the rest of The Bahamas. In Bimini they are mourning a favorite son, an icon like no other. They are remembering him too, all over The Bahamas. Here in New Providence, Bahamas Boxing Commission Chairman Pat Strachan (a former boxer of note), shook his head at the news. "I didn't know him as well as some others. His career blossomed before I knew what was going on but his record is cemented. He was the one we all followed. All of us who fought abroad did so with the confidence drawn from the fact that one of us opened the doors over 50 years ago. That person was Yama. On behalf of my colleagues on the Commission and indeed the entire boxing community, let me say that our hearts go out to his family. He was a soldier in boxing to the very end. He died as a Boxing Commissioner, into his second stint, having been first appointed in 2003. We will surely miss him," said Strachan. Yama certainly was special. A 76-14-3 won/loss/draw record stamped him as a superb competitor inside of the ropes. Victories over Kid Gavalin, Jose Gonzales, Scatterhaw Dixon, Andy Mayfield, Joey Giambra, Stan Harrington, Gil Turner and Gene Parker solidified his career. A world championship was not in the cards, but from the mid 1950s to the mid 1960s he was one of the best middleweights in the world. He had that island rhythm in his movements and a flair that endeared him to thousands of onlookers wherever he fought. Those feet will dance no more. They are stilled. His voice has been silenced. 'Yama Bahama' has gone on to his final home. May his soul forever rest in peace. Tuesday, June 30, 2009