I received a call on Friday afternoon from a member of the media who advised that Charles Whittaker attended the UDP’s launch of its constitutional paper and that he spoke to some media at the launch and said that he has been left out of the boxing event in June.
Here are the facts:
Charles Whittaker was with me in Las Vegas last year when I held the first meeting with Goossen Tutor Promotions about the possibility of having a boxing event in Cayman.
At the meeting I advised that the primary objective would be to stage a promotional event for the destination and to the extent that Charles Whittaker’s professional development as a boxer could be enhanced through this event that would be value added for us and something that we would be happy to facilitate.
This was the consensus and negotiations with GTP have continued since that time, with the understanding that Charles Whittaker would fight on one of the undercard fights in a Cayman event.
It has been agreed that Charles’ fight will be taped and we are in discussion that should the main fights end early, Charles’ fight will also be broadcast on television.
In addition, Government has agreed to enhance Charles purse as an undercard fighter in recognition of his position as the only Caymanian boxer on the cards.
Since the initial meeting GTP arranged for Charles Whittaker to fight in an undercard fight during an HBO event which they executed in LA, California in July 2007. Charles chose not to participate in this event, citing that his trainer was unavailable.
Charles Whittaker still has a slot on the undercard fights for the event in Cayman and we are still hoping that he will seize this opportunity. As Charles is our local boxing hero we want him to be in this event; and, we have even given him the option, at his request, to select his opponent.
After leaving several voicemail messages for Charles Whittaker and sending him multiple text messages to call me – we finally spoke for about 30 minutes. We had a cordial discussion, which ended with his agreement to seriously consider this opportunity over the next few days. We still hope Charles will take up this offer.
I understand that Charles has now appeared in the media stating his displeasure at the offer made. I am very disappointed at this latest stance and I hope he changes his mind. While I understand that Charles wants his fight to be the main event this is unfortunately not an option as the main event fighters include a former Olympian Gold medalist and current world ranked heavyweight boxers.
Still I do want to say that I respect Charles’ ability as a boxer – so much so that I made him a part of our discussions with GTP, which resulted in him reconciling his differences with the Ministry of Sports and since then he has managed to get his contract with the Ministry of Sports increased.
In closing I want to say I remain hopeful that Charles Whittaker will participate in the June event as planned.
Charles E. Clifford
Minister of Tourism
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