The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

HAVING had to rescheduled his next professional fight and his Bard Yard Rumble Promotional card, Sherman 'the Tank' Williams is encouraging Bahamians to follow the rules of the Government so the Bahamas can get through the Coronavirus Pandemic as quickly as possible.

Due to the spread of the Covid-19 virus, the 47-year-old Williams returned from Denmark on March 19 and he's now back home in Port St Lucie, Florida where's following all of the guidelines as prescribed by the state to ensure that he remain safe.

"We had a successful run in January and we were supposed to start our training camp on March 15th," Williams said. "But unfortunately, Covid-19 came into play and we are facing a worldwide pandemic that that is not going any way right now. We just have to embrace it.

"I'm basically keeping a safe distance and following all of the guidelines. There's nothing you can do from an athletic stand point. I get my running in first thing in the morning and do a couple of miles on my bicycle, but basically that is it. I am following the guidelines and trying to stay healthy and use the time to study and other stuff like that."

Having last fought on April 13, 2019 when he won over Stacy Fraser at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium, Williams had a series of bouts postponed for one reason or the other over the past few months while he's been throughout Europe working with other boxers and training in anticipation of getting back into the ring.

He's now forced to postpone his third Back Yard Rumble boxing event that he had planned to stage in New Providence for the second consecutive year after taking the first one to his hometown in Grand Bahama two years ago, until further notice.

"We didn't see this coming. It came as a thief in the night," he said of the Covid-19 virus. "God willing, if the virus can get out, we already had a commitment with Kalik and a few other sponsors to put on the show. We were hoping to come back for the Independence celebrations for Back Yard Rumble III.

"But right now it's going to be on hold until we can see our way clear. With the financial restraints, I think it's going to be pushed way back. If the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan could be pushed back for one year for the first time in history, maybe that telling us in our carnal minds, maybe it's telling us that we have to also push back our event."

As something that the world has never seen before, the journeyman fighter with a 42-15-2 in-loss-draw record in a career that spanned from 1997 when he made his debut after he failed to make the cut for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, believe that eventually this will pass and people can pick up the pieces and move on.

"Some days are worse than others," he pointed out. "This is not our fault. We didn't see this coming. This is where we really need to lean on our spiritual strength to get through. Every day is not easy. I'm used to traveling and being in the boxing gym twice a day.

"But maybe God is trying to get our attention. God didn't cause it, but he allowed it. Maybe this is time for us to look at who we were as individuals and who we are as a nation in the Bahamas. I think we need to make some serious social changes and that is not only putting God first, but socially and economically, we need to start to look at how we can make the Bahamas better."

With tourism taking a hard hit right now, Williams said the Bahamas will have to look at developing agriculture and farming and the aragonite industry if the country is going to survive when it's all said and done.

"I think if we put our heads together and the Bahamian people abroad in every corner of the globe with all of their masters and doctorate degrees can make a contribution, we can turn this around. We have been blessed. For a long time the Family Islands, like Grand Bahama and Abaco, have been hit by hurricane, but now we have to rebuild the whole country and only God I think can help us now."

To the Bahamian people, from Inagua to Bimini, Williams had a simple message.

"Follow the Government's guidelines. This is no time to misbehave. This thing is real," he charged. "I spoke to my friends all through the United States and they are bewildered by what is happening over here, so I can only imagine what the Bahamian people are going through.

"I think we need to comply with the government's rules and guidelines. It maybe hard, but we have to sacrifice. Let's stay home and try to beat Covid-19 together. I think it's all possible if work together. The faster we comply with the government rules and regulations by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Health, we will get through this. The faster we comply, the faster we can get out of this rut."

If the country doesn't comply to the safety measures, Williams said the country could be fighting this pandemic until July or even longer. In the meantime, he said Bahamians can use the time to develop their spiritual strength because never in his lifetime have he heard or seen where people could not go to Church and worship on Holy week.

"There's nothing we can do about it," he insisted. "We can have Church at home because we know that Christ is there. So use this as a time of prayer and fasting. If we comply, we an get through this together and we can become a better Bahamas."