The ‘Stealth Bomber’ Gwendolyn O’Neil

First Guyanese woman ever to win a world boxing title

By Venessa Deosaran

She is famously known as the ‘Stealth Bomber’ to her Guyanese fans. Gwendolyn O’Neil on May 29, 2004, then a 35-year-old mother of five, became the first Guyanese woman ever to win a world boxing title.

‘Gwen’ grew up in the Barima River area of the North West District, the twentieth child in a family of 21. Her toughness in the ring originated from long hours spent doing hard work on her parents’ farm at an early age. Her father, who was from St. Lucia, died when she was just five years old. She also had to fight her way through school so as not to be taken advantage of by boys.

Her interest in combat sports began with martial arts but she was introduced to boxing by her husband. Her decision to turn pro was inspired by a fight she saw on television. She told Guyana Times Sunday Magazine, “One day I saw two women fighting and I told my husband, ‘They can’t beat me, I can beat them both!’”

On July 31, 1999 in Port of Spain, Trinidad, she knocked out Kim ‘Bonecrusher’ Quashie of Trinidad in the first round of a heavyweight bout.

On December 4, 1999 in Georgetown, she won a four-round decision over Guyanese Margaret Walcott.

December 26, 2000 at Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, Gwen (at 170 lbs) won by TKO over southpaw Guyanese Geraldine Cox in the third round of a scheduled four-rounder, as part of the ‘Boxing Day KO’ organized by the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC), which has been actively encouraging women’s boxing in Guyana.

On August 5, 2001 in Georgetown, she fought to a four-round draw in a rematch with Margaret Walcott. On December 26, 2001 at Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, Melissa Charles of Trinidad won by disqualification over Gwen, who was ejected for biting her opponent.

Then on May 24, 2003 at Cliff Anderson Sports Hall, Gwen won the vacant ‘Guyanese Light Heavyweight’ title with a fourth-round TKO of Margaret Walcott.

In January 2004 Gwen travelled to Abuja, Nigeria for a six-round bout with Laila Ali on January 10, but Ali cancelled at the last moment, saying that the airline seats for her and her entourage had only been reserved by the event organizers, and not paid for.

“I think that she was just scared,” said O’Neil. “She tried to duck me. I know that I would have knocked her out. I’m still prepared to fight her once she has the guts to mix it with me. I’m not in this business to joke around. This is serious business, forty thousand people turned up at the stadium to witness the bout. I had to apologize for the absence of Ali when I took to the ring.”

The card was arranged for a charity combating AIDS and human trafficking.

On May 29, 2004 at National Park, a crowd of about 5000 fans saw Gwen win a ten-round unanimous decision over Kathy Rivers for the WIBA Light Heavyweight title. There were no knockdowns in a hard fought battle.

O’Neil was awarded a house lot, a grant towards building a house, and a duty free concession for a car by the government of Guyana in appreciation of her win.

But then at the Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, Sept. 24, 2004, Laila Ali won the IWBF Light Heavyweight title with a third-round knockout of Gwen.

For those who may not have seen the match, Ali began the fight letting O’Neil come to her while she blocked most of her punches with her gloves, a strategy reminiscent of her father’s ‘rope-a-dope’ tactic against George Foreman. As O’Neil appeared to tire after just a minute of this, Ali began to respond with quick jabs and hard hooks to her body. She responded to a lazy jab by O’Neil midway through the second round by knocking her down with a counter right to the chin. O’Neil recovered quickly but the same scenario played out later in the round, putting O’Neil down for an eight count that left her still wobbly. Ali turned up the heat in the third as O’Neil looked increasingly desperate. Ali dropped O’Neil in a neutral corner with another right to the jaw as the third round was ending. This time O’Neil sat stunned as she was counted out by referee Jim Korb. Ali walked away a victor.

“She was tough. I had to hit her with straight rights to knock her down,” Ali said in an interview after the fight.

Asked why she boxes, Gwen replied, “Because I like the game. I like fighting, and I like being rough. My goal is to beat anybody who gets in the ring with me. I need a few more titles and then I can say I have done great.” (Taken from Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)