Although he has gained a reputation as one of Cayman’s top boxing coaches, Trinidadian Floyd Trumpet was recently inducted into his hometown’s hall of fame for kickboxing.
Trumpet, who has trained past and current Caymanian fighters, including Alec Lopez and Chris Hurlston, was officially inducted in the inaugural Trinidad and Tobago Kickboxing Federation hall of fame during a ceremony on 7 Jan., at the Fine Line Fight Factory Gym in Chaguanas.
His responsibilities in Cayman prevented him from attending the event, where five others were also recognised for their contribution to the sport through the 1990s to 2000.
“It’s great to be recognised as one of the pioneers of the sport,” Trumpet told the Compass. “Even though I no longer train in kickboxing, it’s great to be appreciated for everything that I have done.”
He was one of the first Trinidadian kickboxers to be world-ranked, once finishing as high as sixth.
His most notable victory came in 1997 in Mexico when he defeated the more experienced Mexican champion, whose record was 22-0-1, while having just six fights under his belt – though he had not lost a match.
Despite being rooted in a different sport, he fell in love with boxing after encountering difficulty in finding kickboxers willing to take him on in the ring, and he has not looked back.
The boxing head coach at the Performance Lab in George Town and former Cayman national coach, Trumpet told the Compass he is now focused on creating a Caymanian boxing world champion.
However, he added, should the right individual come along for kickboxing, he’d offer his guidance.
“If the person is genuine and really wanted to get into kickboxing, I can teach them, but they have to really want to learn.”
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