‘I’m fighting for a legacy’

Elton ‘Coolie Bully’ Dharry: from humble beginnings to the pinnacle of the WBC CABOFE Bantamweight division

By Avenash Ramzan

“At the sound of the bell… Round Number One!” As announcer Basil Bradshaw retreats to ring side and the bell tolls, Elton ‘Coolie Bully’ Dharry charges out of the blue corner, and dances his way into Selwyn Lett’s quarter.

His eyes focused on his opponent; gloves waiting, brain ticking. He follows his opponent’s every move like a hungry lion waiting to pounce on its prey. Suddenly, he finds an opening.

Out comes the right hook; the left jab follows; a right upper cut rocks the chin of Lett, who is forced to stay upright by bracing against the ropes. As the punches continue to gush like water from a broken water main, the ropes no longer offer comfort for Lett.

The canvas provides the only respite as he lay sprawled and battered. The fight is over. One minute, 55 seconds.

That’s all it took for Dharry to solidify his already burgeoning reputation as the real ‘Coolie Bully.’

The early years

“My trainer, Patrick Forde- probably one of the greatest Guyanese fighters – told me that there were a few guys before me who were the ‘Coolie Bullies’, but when he saw me in the ring sparring and fighting, he said ‘man you’re the real Coolie Bully.’ So that name just got stuck on me,” 26-year-old Dharry divulged during an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine.

Born in Essequibo – on the island of Leguan to be specific – December 1, 1985, Elton Felix Dharry grew up indulging in the things every country boy has grown accustomed to: playing cricket, climbing trees, and of course getting in trouble with the fairer sex.

He received his early education at Richmond Hill Primary School, before his entire family (mother, father and five other siblings) migrated to the U. S. A whole new lifestyle beckoned. The freedom of roaming the streets of Leguan without fear was abruptly transformed into a battle for survival on the dangerous corridors of Brooklyn.

Within months, the diminutive lad was no longer wielding the coconut branch bat, but folding his fists, trying hard to battle his way out of whatever trouble would have descended upon him, whether at school or on the way home.

“First, my father was a major boxing fan. The neighbourhood I grew up in Brooklyn wasn’t the easiest of places to grow up in. You had a lot of fights there, so you had to find a way of surviving. But I wanted to do it [get involved in boxing]. My dad was a big fan so that prompted me – along with the environment,” he reflected.

“Yes, it was something I wanted to get involved in. I saw some fights and I wasn’t so impressed. I told myself I could do better, so I decided to get involved [in 2002].”

The highs and lows

After a short span as an amateur fighting out of the U.S.A. Dharry graduated into the realm of professional boxing in 2004, and in his first professional fight chalked up a unanimous decision win over Guyanese Mark Fernandes, knocking him down three times in a six-round fight at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.

Back in the U. S., a draw against Manual Sarabia was followed by four consecutive defeats at the hands of Jose Albuquerque, Cesar Grajeda, Leo Santa Cruz and Sergio Herrera, as Dharry’s fledgling career took a nose dive.

“I started off my career really good, but then a lot of stuff went wrong, I made a lot of mistakes… but now I’m working really hard to clean things up: training harder, more focused now. I wasn’t doing the things I should have been doing… the things I needed to do to stay on top of my game. You know, I was young then, but now it’s different… I’ve learnt from those days and I’m better off now,” he admitted, looking back at his past defeats.

And while a second win came against Orland ‘Pocket Rocket’ Rogers in Guyana, it was a September 11, 2009 U. S. defeat once again for Dharry as Isander Beauchamp gained a unanimous decision.

But six months later, a refreshed Dharry pulverized debutant Wilmut Hutson at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, to commence a six-match winning streak that continued up to the demolition of Lett in February 2012 at the World Boxing Council Caribbean Boxing Federation (WBC CABOFE) Caribbean Cup Eliminators.

Prior to that bout, Dharry had knocked down Guyanese Dexter ‘The Kid’ Marques in round seven of 12 to lift the vacant WBC CABOFE Bantamweight title.

A champion is crowned

“My most exciting moment was becoming champion. I always wanted to be champion; that was the goal from day one,” he declared.

Being crowned champion was doubly great for Dharry after he suffered a sound thrashing at hands of Mexican Grajeda early in his professional career- a moment he described as the “worst” of his boxing life.

“I was doing things I shouldn’t have done. I took the fight at just two weeks notice. It was brutal; I got a head butt, gash over my eye, fractured my nose. It was a rough fight,” Dharry reminisced.

With legendary Heavyweight ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson and Mexican’s ‘Baby-Faced Assassin’ Marco Antonio Barrera as his idols, it’s no surprise Dharry later adopted that same no-nonsense approach in the ring, battering his rivals just the way he was battered by Grajeda.

Quizzed on his ultimate goal as a pugilist, Dharry said: “I want my country to remember me as one of the greatest Guyanese fighters or one of the greatest Guyanese athletes. I’m fighting for a legacy, not just fighting for fighting sake. I want to become world champion, you know, leave something behind for people to remember and ultimately make the country proud.”

With a spot in the lucrative WBC CABOFE Cup of Champions later this month, it is back to the grind at the world famous Gleason’s Gym in New York. And while his sparring partners, punching bags and pads would be at his mercy over the coming weeks, it’s the man in the opposite corner that Elton ‘Coolie Bully’ Dharry is focused on. (Taken from Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)