The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

FIVE years after he walked away from the ring as one of the most successful Bahamian boxers, Evander Freeman ‘the Natural’ Barr is going into the Florida Hall of Fame.

The 43-year-old resident of Naples, Florida, will be formally inducted in a ceremony June 24-26 at the International Hotel in Tampa.

The 2016 class will include Marvin Camel, Ray Mercer, and Sugar Baby Rojas, trainer Dave Marks, media members Al Bernstein, Jimmy Gestwicki, and Ira Glass, participant Eric Bottjer, and officials/commissioners Ric Bays and Tommy Kimmons were the living inductees.

Posthumous inductees are former world champions Alexis Arguello, Hector Camacho Sr and Beau Jack, top contender Mike Quarry, and official Ruby Goldstein. Don Balas and Frank Gentile will receive Lifetime Boxing Achievement Awards.

“Last Sunday about 12 o’clock when the Florida State Boxing Hall of Fame president called me and he told me that I was going to be inducted in June, but they wanted me to be at the gym for the announcement on Saturday,” Barr said. “When I saw him last year, he told me that I was going to go into the Hall of Fame. It was just a matter of time. He told me then that I had to be away from the game for five years and so I know it would have been this year. I was thinking it would have been last year, so this year made me five years, so I went in on my first recommendation.”

Over the course of his professional career that started on February 26, 1993, when he stopped Jim Sutton in the second round in Nassau, Barr accumulated an impressive 29-4 win-loss record. He spent the majority of his time fighting out of the SJC Boxing Club between Punda Gorda and Fort Myers, Florida under the supervision of manager/coach Steve Canton.

During that time, Barr won three prestigious titles, including the IBO World and NABO middle and super middleweight. The five-foot, 9 1/2-inch orthodox fighter continued fighting until he officially retired on August 31, 2010, when he pulled off a sixth-round decision over Dion Stanley at the Charlotte Harbor Center in Punta Gorda.

“I feel good, but I feel I could have done a little more if I hadn’t gotten sick,” said Barr, who was diagnosed with a lung infection in 2003 after he lost a third round decision to Mger Mkrtvhyan at the Teco Arena in Fort Myers on May 2. “The one thing I wanted to do was to fight for the WBO title that Joe Calzaghe held. My main focus was on him. I wanted to put that on my legacy.

“But after I got sick, I had to let it pass me by. But I just want to thank God for all that I’ve accomplished in boxing. I feel really good about what I accomplished. I know a lot of my fights I should not have taken because I was not in good health, but I walked away with my head held high because I know I wasn’t 100 per cent and was still able to win those fights, so I feel good about myself.”

And just to have his name on the same list of inductees with the likes of Arguello, Mercer and Camacho Sr, has given Barr an added feather in his cap.

“I had a great deal of confidence in myself, but my father was always behind me. Growing up as a kid with six brothers, he told me that I will be the boxer out of all of them, so he had already instilled that in me,” Barr said. “When I went to the gym, even Sonny Boy Rahming said he saw a lot in me and after being with Everette Jackson, whom I looked up to as a close friend, he already had my name spread all over Florida even before I got here with Steve Canton.

“I was always a self-motivated guy. I always believed that I could go somewhere. My goal was to go to the top. So I feel I could have accomplished a lot more, if I didn’t get sick.”

Now that he’s done, Barr still frequents the gym assisting the fighters. He also spent a lot of time when he’s not working as an electrician grooming his two sons, both named after him, as they venture into football.

“I just want to thank the Bahamian fans for supporting me over the years. I wanted to make sure that I didn’t let them down,” Barr said. “I know my family and friends have all been proud of me. Ernie Barr, Richard Barr, my father, Everette Jackson, Sonny Boy and Steve Canton, they all played a big role in my career. I really want to let them know that I appreciate their support.”