Termite Watkins in Iraq

crooked nose · Post by **crooked nose** » 02 Apr 2004, 16:56

Caught a recent news story about 80s jr. welter Maurice "Termite" Watkins. He went to Iraq as a civilian contractor (exterminator) and hooked up with amateur boxers in Baghdad. Now he's coaching them for this summer's Olympics. Don't know if he'll be going to Athens but it's good to see an old pug doing OK. Just hope he keeps a low profile and stays the hell out of Fallujah!

Palais · Post by **Palais** » 04 Apr 2004, 19:35

Good to see that someone contributes to law and order.
Are they boxers from Iraq?

crooked nose · Post by **crooked nose** » 04 Apr 2004, 23:50

Yes, some young amateurs who had barely any equipment. Right now they are in some qualifying tournaments around Asia.

Eric the Viking · Post by **Eric the Viking** » 05 Apr 2004, 10:56

"Termite" - what a great nickname.

Ironically his style was anything but wooden, and his fights were most definitely not boring. ;)

crooked nose · Post by **crooked nose** » 06 Apr 2004, 12:35

Yes, Eric, I think you nailed it!

Eric the Viking · Post by **Eric the Viking** » 06 Apr 2004, 13:32

crooked nose wrote:Yes, Eric, I think you nailed it!

I wouldn't want be accused of going against the grain on this issue.

Also, of the 5 guys Mo lost to in his career, which would you say best qualifies as the Orkin Man? Howard Davis, maybe? Howard could really spray the punches, and of course had that solid amateur foundation.

(OK, gotta stop now, I'm about to make myself laugh, and that might make my boss suspicious).

crooked nose · Post by **crooked nose** » 07 Apr 2004, 09:34

Too bad Watkins wasn't a bantamweight. Then he could have fought Greg "The Flea" Richardson. Or a middleweight and fought Bobby "Bugaloo" Watts.
Or he could gone into promoting fights and be a cockroach himself!

Eric the Viking · Post by **Eric the Viking** » 07 Apr 2004, 10:58

crooked nose wrote:Too bad Watkins wasn't a bantamweight. Then he could have fought Greg "The Flea" Richardson. Or a middleweight and fought Bobby "Bugaloo" Watts.

Or Hormiga Fernandez (sorry, you'll need your Spanish/English dictionary for that one), who despite having lost his one and only fight in 1990, was highly underrated.

crooked nose · Post by **crooked nose** » 08 Apr 2004, 15:35

And how could I forget Alberto "Superfly" Sandoval.
I think the real Orkin man among the Termite's opponents was Saoul Mamby - now there's a guy who could really fumigate an arena! He stunk out the joint on four continents!

Eric the Viking · Post by **Eric the Viking** » 04 May 2004, 15:20

Nice article about Termite and his training of the Iraqi Olympic team - nice to hear about some of the good things going on in Iraq, not the who-got-killed sensational stuff the mass media fixate on:

http://inhome.rediff.com/sports/2004/may/04oly-box.htm

Full article text, in case the above link goes away:

Termite helps Iraq get back the boxing bug

May 04, 2004 11:50 IST

Texan pest controller Maurice "Termite" Watkins went to Iraq a year ago to kill bugs. Now, he is preparing Iraq's national boxing team for the Olympic Games.

It did not take long before word got around that Watkins had enjoyed a distinguished career as a boxer back home in the United States and he was asked to take over the team.

With funding from the Coalition Provisional Authority, Termite said goodbye to pests last November and called 24 of Iraq's best amateur boxers to Hillah, a city south of Baghdad, for the first of many pre-Olympic training camps.

"These guys didn't even smile," Watkins told Reuters on a training visit to London last week. "Some of them had been beaten. They were embittered about the world, they had absolutely no equipment, no shoes and no gloves."

Saddam Hussein's regime had turned the Olympic ideal of Pierre de Coubertin on its head. It was not the competing that counted, only winning. Saddam's son, Uday, once head of Iraq's Olympic committee, would punish athletes if he was displeased with their performance.

"At the very least, they would shave your head to shame you, or you would be imprisoned," said Abdul Zahra Jewad Ali, one of the boxing team's coaches. "But there are many stories of beatings and torture."

TEAM DANCE

At first, the team were unsure what to make of their new Texan coach and his vow to take them to August's Olympics in Athens.

"I talked to them about it being their time, that they deserved a chance," Watkins said. "They used to fight out of fear under Saddam's regime, now they fight out of joy."

Watkins broke down the barriers by beginning each training session with a team dance and a chant of "Iraq is back! Iraq is back!" -- a phrase that became a rallying cry for the Olympic hopefuls and is now printed across the team's official shirts.

Lucky to have escaped a mortar bomb attack during a stay in Baghdad, Watkins said he and team leader Muhawi Shawkat Shibly had been threatened because not everyone was happy that an American was training the Iraqi boxing team.

But with just over 100 days until the Athens Games, Watkins prefers to focus on the practicalities of boxing. Good facilities and sparring partners were in short supply in Iraq, and help from abroad was crucial, he said.

The team spent a week training in London, facilitated by the London 2012 Olympic bid organisers and the Amateur Boxing Association of England, ahead of this month's final Olympic regional qualifying tournament in Pakistan.

ALI BILL

Watkins, 47, himself might have fought in the Olympics. He was a member of the same United States team as Sugar Ray Leonard, but decided to turn professional.

With 59 wins out of 67 fights, his career climaxed in 1980 when he fought for the world light-welterweight title on the same bill that saw Larry Holmes defeat Muhammad Ali.

Watkins never thought Iraq would provide him with another chance to use his boxing expertise.

Najah Salah, a 22-year-old member of the team and one of three tipped by Watkins to make it to Athens, is glad it did.

"He's a great man," Salah, smiling shyly, said. "We don't view him as an American coach. Termite is my second family. We want to win for him, but more for ourselves and for Iraq."

The team have already scored a victory by winning one wild card entry for the Games from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), ensuring that an Iraqi boxer will enter the opening ceremony sporting the black and green national colours.

"My biggest dream is to represent my country in Athens," said Salah.

© Copyright 2004 Reuters Limited.