 Born Winston Carlisle Yearwood in 1945, Cassius Clay had every strike against him. But he rose to become the undisputed and highly respected Barbados Boxing Champion, and today he continues his winning ways as both a tour guide and an entertainer in the tourist industry, and is also a loyal and giving member of his Silver Hill community in the southern parish of Christ Church.
Cassius was a "wild boy" by his own account. His father, a Guyanese business man of only sporadic success, owned a rum shop at the Careenage in Bridgetown - a bustling wharf and dock yard of sailors and cargo ships; his mother, raising four children - all fathered by different men - was a domestic helper.
"I was very 'own-wayish' (undisciplined), so my mother sent me to live with my father. I would hang around the rum shop and the careenage all day, and refused to go to school."
When his father died - a victim of poverty and rum - Cassius made the streets his home. "I was a wild boy, no more than 10 years old, and learnt how to fend for myself." He slept under staircases and behind warehouse sheds, and found his meals among the discarded fruit cargo. "I would fetch water for the seamen and so earn 5 or 10 cents."
There were other "wild boys" in the city, and Cassius learned how to fight - his solid, lean body and his 'own-wayish' determination proving useful. But his life as a scrapping Bridgetown "wild boy" came to an end late one night in 1960 - Cassius was discovered by a watchman while sleeping under a stairway, and the police were called.
"They (the police) called in my mother, but she had long since disowned me. I recall that she told the police that my younger brother was, in her mind, her only son." With that, Cassius was sent to the Government Reformatory School, known as Dodd's, and thus became a ward of the state.
During his three years at Dodd's, Cassius recalls that he never once broke the rules. The discipline and routine that he had dodged all of his life seemed, surprisingly, to suit him just fine. "We learned how to do things in the kitchen and the tailor shop, and even had some farming duties." But maybe more importantly, Cassius was now a member of a large family - 71 to be exact. At last, he had a home.
Cassius never forgot his family at Dodd's, and holds a special place in his heart for the then superintendent Kenneth Simmons, who practically adopted him as his own, and teacher Warren Waithe, who believed in him. In fact, Cassius returned to work as a monitor at Dodd's, and gave inspirational talks to boys who also called it home.
After a few years as a seaman Cassius returned home, and began to earn the nickname which sticks to this day: "The Young Cassius Clay". "Boxing was popular among us poor boys because it required no purchase of ball, bat, or shoes," says Cassius, "and it added an element of discipline and routine" that was so painfully missing from their lives.
He has fought some 111 fights - including 17 international bouts in Canada during the 1980s, earning a respectable record of 15 wins and 2 losses. His boxing career also exposed him to the entertainment industry. And Cassius, always looking to discover new talents developed a host of "crazy stunts". He thus became an entertainer by night while training as a boxer by day. Cassius learnt how to balance a bicycle on his chin, a ladder in his teeth, and trays of filled glasses on his thumb. He learnt how to eat fire, do the limbo, and even sang with the band Zodiac in the early 1990s.
Today, however, Cassius is one of the best tour guides on the island, and continues to entertain at the annual Christmas parties which he sponsors each year for needy children. For Cassius is a man with a huge heart, and he looks to give back to society in any way he can.
"But I still dream of boxing", he says, "I love my island and am proud of the fame that I have brought to it." And then, with a hint of mischievousness, he talks of a career not quite dead. "I would love to be the oldest boxer to step into the professional ring for Barbados."
Dreams have brought him this far........ so don't bet against it!
Article written in 2004 and compliments of "Ins and Outs of Barbados" Magazine
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