boxing

Legendary Boxer Ray Minus Jr, who was one of the country’s best boxers, inspiring a generation of young athletes, died on Thursday. He was 58.

What to Know About Ray Minus Jr

1. He was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) in 2022, a rare neurological disease affecting motor neurons. His muscles have been in decline since the diagnosis. In an interview with ZNS last year, his daughter said she believed it was spurred by his tedious fights in the boxing ring.
2. He was the former Bahamas and British Commonwealth bantamweight and lightweight champion. Queen Elizabeth recognized him as the Commonwealth Boxer of the Year in 1989.
3. Ray Minus’ arch-rival and sparring partner in the ring was Quincy Pratt. He said of Quincy in 2021: “During some of the sparring sessions, it was really competitive, so I knew when we fight, it was going to be a fight.” Minus won the first two fights in 1992 and 1999, and the third fight was given to Pratt in 2000.
4. He was trained by his father Ray Minus Snr, a legendary fighter. “My father, I always had the respect for him,” he said. My father was there for me. My father was a very good coach. He taught me some things and helped me to be creative in my fights. That is what I was able to continue with as I started to develop some of the great young fighters who came along behind me.”
5. Minus was inducted into the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture’s National Hall of Fame in November 2022.

Bahamian Heavyweight boxer Amron Sands went into his fight with an 11 win 0 loss record (9 KO), against Columbian undefeated brawler, Alexis Garcia.  But suffered the first loss of his career in the third round of the match by TKO on Friday.

Minister of Youth, Sports & Culture, Iram Lewis extended his support and thanks to Sands who fought on the undercard, despite the loss.

Lewis said he was honoured to have chat with Amron prior to the fight to assure him of his unwavering support despite the outcome of the fight.

“Experiencing a loss in competition is a part of growth and undoubtedly he will/must learn from the experience and come back stronger, faster and better than before.

“Muhammed Ali has lost. Mike Tyson has lost. But both remained among some of the most feared fighters of the sport.”

“Continue to train, continue to prepare and we will continue to support you,” Lewis said.