Latest update April 25th, 2024 12:03 AM
Jul 09, 2015 Sports
Five World titles later and one Guyana national title has not slowed down the Amazon Warrior aka “Stealth Bomber” aka “Big Red” who is still gunning for ten titles before she retires from professional boxing. Gwendolyn O’Neil openly wept when she heard her good friend Andrew “Six Head” Lewis had died tragically in a car accident while riding his bike.
“I know “Six” enjoyed this victory because he was the first one who told me that I would win a world title after I met him at the airport in 2001 when he returned home to Guyana after becoming Guyana’s first male boxing world champion.” Three years later in 2004, true to his prediction, O’Neil went on to become Guyana’s first female boxing world champion and has surpassed all her male counterparts in terms of endurance and number of championship belts.
Gwendolyn O’Neil continues to make history after winning the UBF Heavyweight Boxing World Championship Belt in St. Maarten on Saturday July 4th, 2015 against IBO World Champion Sonya Lamonakis in a 10 round split decision. It was a hard fought victory but the 258 pound Lamonakis faded in the later rounds as ‘Big Red’ kept the jab busy and put together combinations to finish strong after a slow start. It was an incredible performance because O’Neil was inactive for over three and a half years but was still able to outpoint the #1 ranked heavyweight in the world.
O’Neil plans to return to Guyana towards the end of July 2015 so that the whole of Guyana can celebrate the victory and to also pay respect to Andrew “Six heads” Lewis. She could not make the funeral as she was in heavy training for the bout which had already been postponed twice. “‘Six Head’ gave Guyanese a reason to be happy and celebrate and when people are happy they forget about their own problems and focus on helping and loving each other,” she said.
All hats off to Sonya Lamonakis who proved to be a tough competitor and worthy opponent but a warrior heart like “Big Red” never says die and nothing could stop her return to the ring from being successful. She credits her new manager, Basil Boyce, from Golden Bow & Arrow Promotions, and her entire new management team, who believed in her when so many had written her off as old and incapable of fighting anymore at a high level. She expects to fight twice more for the year and will be looking to add to her collection of belts and further elevate her legacy in the boxing world.
When asked what keeps her hungry she replied, “I have a lot of love and a lot of passion inside of me and I always want to come first and not second. I love my people and my family and I always want to help in any way I can. I hope that we can all pull together as Guyanese and make our country a better place for us all to live.”
O’Neil plans on starting a rain forest preservation fund upon her return to Guyana at the end of July 2015 to protect and preserve the natural rain forest that she grew up in. She also plans to visit her birthplace in Port Kaituma because the last time she visited she only had one world title and now she has a handful, so let the celebrations begin.
The warrior will return home clothed in glory and accomplishments so much that plans are in the making to document her story via a movie.
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