Legendary Boxing Trainer Henrietta Gill

Well-known boxing trainer Henrietta Gill turns ninety-one-years-old this year. She is among the unsung heroes in Belizean sports. Gill’s passion for mentoring young men and molding them into model citizens, even if they were locked up behind prison walls, made her a role model. The athletes she trained were very good and won medals, a testament to her skillfulness. She did all this in the ‘80s and 90’s, at a time when women were not being welcomed into the sport with open arms. In tonight’s episode of Belize on Reel, News Five’s Paul Lopez looks at the contributions of Henrietta Gill to boxing in Belize.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

If one was to travel back in time to the early nineties when Belizeans came out in droves to watch boxing, the Bird’s Isle was the place to be. This is footage from a fight night back then at an event that was filled with spectators and some heavy hitters in boxing. At ringside, among the trainers, stood one woman who brought immense value to the discipline.

 

Henrietta Gill, Former Boxing Coach

“I want you to jab up and come back down ok. Work the body and the head, you understand what I am telling you. Nuh guh to the back ah man.”

 

Henrietta Gill is a legendary boxing trainer. She was in her late fifties and aging gracefully when these videos were captured. At the time, Gill was a trainer for the Adolphus and Civic gyms. She was also employed as an officer in Her Majesty’s Prison where she trained prisoners to box. Her program helped prisoners to better reintegrate themselves into society upon their release. Here she was preparing a group of boxers from the prison for the 1993 Belize Games.

 

Henrietta Gill (File: Aug 3^rd, 1993)

“We work everyday from Monday to Friday and we start everyday at two o’clock and we finish the latest at four. It is really hard work. We start with our exercise, going to shadow boxing, skipping, punching of bags, etc., etc. They work really hard and to be frank Marie, I am really prepared for ’93.”

Voice of: Ann Marie Williams, Reporter

“Gill’s boxers are a little different from their competitors in that whether they win lose or draw, they will sulk behind the walls of her majesty’s prison.”

 

Former Boxer

“I take part in the first Belize Games. I won a gold medal, and I was quite satisfied. I am hoping I am going out there and doing my best. That is what everybody expects of me, to do my best.”

 

Ann Marie Williams

“What is it like taking punches in the ring?”

 

Former Boxer

“Just like giving, you take, and you give, that is the point right.”

 

Henrietta Gill’s passion for developing prisoners into model citizens extended beyond the boxing ring. Here she is captured participating in a talent show organized by prisoners at Her Majesty’s Prison. In 2022, almost three decades later, News Five caught up with an eighty-nine-year-old Gill in Belize City, still active and very cheerful.

 

Henrietta Gill (File: Sept 5^th, 2022)

“Now the first thing you have to train your boxers is you have to drop in their stance. Anytime you tell your boxer drop in the stance they put their right foot, because they write with their right hand, but no. You see the body is turned. So, you don’t. When you say drop in your stance, it is the left. And this is your position. You can block anything from there. And this is the punch. When the punch comes, it comes… that is the punch…*laughs* I feel great and many nights I would stay and wonder, how did I do so many things? And then I came with one question. I could not have done it without the help of God. He gave me the energy, because at that time I was holding two jobs. I was working with Mr. Tatesfield, that is Debbie Gegg’s daddy, and I was working at the prison.”

 

In this interview Gill explained that she took up boxing as a trainer in 1981 because her son had a passion for boxing and needed a trainer.

 

Henrietta Gill

“My biggest challenge in boxing was the American coach that came. He refused for me to stay in the workshop. He partly told me to come out and go. So, Mr. Nicholas came to me and said, Ms. Gill if I were you, I would go home. I said over my dead body. I am determined, especially when I need something, and I know it is good. So, I stood there. He asked questions and I put up my hand and he ignored me. When break time, he went to have lunch with Mr. Adolphus at the prison. At that time, I was already at the prison. When he came back, he was man enough to stand in front of the class and apologize to me for being rude.”

 

As Gill reflected on her life and her impact in the sport of boxing, she often used the word “blessed” to describe it. Gill now lives in the U.S., an unsung hero who never sought fame and fortune.

 

Henrietta Gill

“Yesterday when I was coming from church, two boys said hi Ms. Gill. I said how you doing. They said we are fine. I said, have a good day. So I passed again, hi Ms. Gill. I said, you know something, I am not worried. If everybody like you all know me here on earth, in heaven I am well know. That is my assurance.”

 

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.