Hill was ?a difficult person to train because he was so cocky,? an attitude that resulted in convictions for marijuana possession in 1970 and 1978?
?Waves upon a tropical shore??Baby, It?s Cold Outside
There are eight million stories in the naked city. Mine?I?ve got ice forming on the inside of my windows.
In addition to a shot or two of Talisker, I?m keeping myself warm by thinking of Bermuda. Warm sands, lapping waves, scantily clad beach maidens, black rats, brown widow spiders, cane toads?um, warm and lapping scantily clad beach maidens.
And heavyweight Clarence Hill, who became Bermuda?s only Olympic medalist by winning a bronze in 1976.
Born on June 26, 1951, the southpaw was trained first by Stanley Trimm and then by Allan ?Forty? Rego, who found Hill ?a difficult person to train because he was so cocky,? an attitude that resulted in convictions for marijuana possession in 1970 and 1978.
Britisher George Francis, who trained Frank Bruno and John Mugabi, among others, wanted to take Hill under his wing. ?Clarence could become the hottest property in heavyweight boxing,? said Francis. ?He?s a natural.? But Hill?s marijuana convictions came to the attention of the British Boxing Board of Control, and he had to return, at least temporarily, to Bermuda.
Back in London for his pro debut on April 14, 1980, Hill stopped David Fry by first-round KO at the Anglo-American Sporting Club in Mayfair. The southpaw, who fought until 1986, stopped his first nine opponents by KO or TKO. He racked up a record of 18 wins, 15 by knockout, three losses, and one draw. His first defeat came by way of Tony Tubbs, who won by unanimous decision in 1982. He was stopped only once, perhaps distracted by his mother?s death, by Walter Santemore via fourth-round TKO in 1983. His third loss was at the hands of Jimmy Clark, who won by split decision in 1984. Hill drew against Dorcey Gaymon in 1983, and hung up the gloves after stopping Mike Perkins by third-round TKO in Hamilton, Bermuda, on June 7, 1986.
?Clarence was a difficult southpaw because he fought you straight on and then he?s twitch on you,? said Rego. ?He did it in such a smooth way, you didn?t even know he was twitching.? Bitter over Hill?s loss to Tubbs, Rego said, ?That fight left something to be desired. Clarence was beating him rather easily. That was the first time Tubbs had ever been down. He dropped Tubbs in the first round rather easily.?
Badly hurt by Clark, doctors advised Hill to retire from the ring. He did so for a couple of years, but returned for two more bouts in 1986.
Said Clark after their match, ?Clarence is an outstanding fighter. For people to say he isn?t, they certainly haven?t been in the ring with him. I think he has a future in front of him, but he must live right. If he does the things a fighter should, then he should be all right.?
But he didn?t and he wasn?t. Not allowed to return to the U.S. because of his criminal record, everything went south for Hill. In addition to his marriage breaking up, he was convicted on a cocaine charge in 1990. Although apparently regretful, Hill also expressed bitterness toward his fellow Bermudians: ?The people of this country have nothing for Clarence Hill. For one who won the country?s first Olympic medal, they have given me a lot of hassles. I haven?t received anything but criticism.? His former trainer tends to agree. ?He was Bermuda?s greatest heavyweight,? says Rego. ?He was quite a difficult person for people to fight. I felt he could have gone all the way if he had a little assistance. He had a lot of heartbreaks. I think he was underrated as far as boxers are concerned in Bermuda.?
Hill was inducted into the Bermuda Sports Hall of Fame in 2005. Odd and not a little disgraceful that he wasn?t one of the Hall?s initial inductees, in 2004. Said fellow Bermudian boxer Troy Darrell, ?It was unfair to Clarence. He should?ve been automatically presented with that honor.? Well, maybe they thought he would be one Clarence too many?they?d already decided to induct high jumper Clarence ?Nicky? Saunders and cricketer Clarence ?Tuppence? Parfitt.
Perhaps to make it up to him, there was talk a couple of years ago of putting up a bronze statue in his honor, this despite his receiving a conditional discharge in 2011 for threatening a woman. ?It would be in your best interest to not behave in this way,? said Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner.
?A statue is all good, but it can?t feed my family,? said the former boxer. ?I?m cleaning cars right now, which brings home a few dollars here and there, but it?s still not enough to take care of the family.? At the very least, said Hill, ?I think securing a boxing gym would be a better option than a statue. I have been calling for a boxing gym to be secured for the longest while simply because of how some youth are today. I think a boxing gym with a good program would give the youth something positive to go after rather than being involved in anti-social behavior.?
Rather appropriately, Bermuda?s motto is Quo Fata Ferunt, Whither the Fates Carry Us.
Now, back to those maidens?which reminds me of when I was 30 years younger and 50 pounds lighter in Key West. Glamour wanted me to do a little modeling, just standing around in a variety of pastel T-shirts surrounded by a bevy of bikinied beauties. I?d fill in the details, but as there?s no connection to the Sweet Science?
