PHILIPSBURG--Coach Earl Duzong, a towering figure at 6-foot 5-inches, is not afraid of a challenge.
Whether on a stage playing the part of a king or tackling the job of teaching himself a new sport to coach and quickly building champions in that sport. For his vision, dedication and perseverance, we name Coach Earl Duzong as The Daily Herald's Sports Person of the Year for 2018.
Duzong started coaching basketball in the Junior District division. “I had the Ebenezer Street Ballers,” said Duzong. “The first year we struggled, but we got into the playoffs. The next year we went undefeated in the regular season. We lost one game in the playoffs and went on to win the Championship.”
It is this fighting spirit, the desire to win but do it right, that has enabled Duzong to change sports from roundball to boxing and still build champions.
Duzong moved from basketball to boxing approximately three years ago. “I did not know a thing about boxing. I had watched a few matches, so I went online and did research.”
Duzong is no stranger to research. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management. He joined the St. Maarten Amateur Boxing Federation, attended training with the Sports Federation in the Dominican Republic, and continued his own online research. This year his hard work paid off.
“We started with conditioning and defense,” said the coach. “Protect yourself at all times is what I tell the fighters. I want no head injuries.”
He is now the Vice President of the Boxing Federation and has two champions and a gym full of up-and-coming boxers.
“Earl is a good addition to the boxing federation,” said president Shawn Blair. “You can see the sport of boxing in 2018 has been real good for us. We have much more exposure on the international scene.”
Blair continued, “2019 is looking bright for us. We just need to continue moving the sport of boxing forward, get some good members in our organization, more folks like Earl who have a passion for the sport, as we do, and a desire to help the young people of St Maarten become productive citizens in our society and also invite the rest of the world to our beautiful Island.
“In 2019. I would like to see our boxers qualify for the Pan American Games and hold our very own tournament, a Battle of the Islands, to attract more countries to become a part of it,” said Blair.
Earl's first champion was his own son, Stephan. Stephan traveled to Curacao in May and fought in the Roll With the Punches Tournament. Stephan won his match in the first round.
It was not an easy road to travel. Duzong remembered his son taking his first Sports Federation fitness test. “He failed. He couldn't do a push up.”
That's when serious training began. One month later Stephan not only passed the fitness test but beat out several of the other athletes in training.
The coach knows ringtime in actual fights is what is needed to move the sport forward. This year he strived to get his boxers off island and into tournaments. Ideally the boxers would fight once a month. “I would like to have monthly fights here on St. Maarten,” mused the coach, but there is an obstacle to that plan.
The Friendly Island only has one ring and it belongs to the North side of the Island. So hosting competitions locally is not easy. This past summer, The Boxing Federation staged the Battle of the Islands at the L.B. Scott Sports Auditorium.
The doors for the night's fighting were to open at 8:00pm but the bell for the first fight did not ring till nearly 11:30pm as organizers were still busy setting up the borrowed ring.
Such adversity is only a minor inconvenience to Earl. He focuses on training the athletes using the equipment he has available.
Malcolm Philips is champ number two. “I lost my last fight,” said Phillips. “I realized I was not aggressive enough.”
Phillips trained hard. Worked with Coach Earl and his training partner Stephan. He trained multiple days each week and even trained twice on some days.
The hard work paid off. Phillips won his next fight and was named Best Boxer at Curaçao's Cura-Box Tournament in September. On reflection, Phillips trainer believes his boxing might have been just a little too aggressive. Phillips beat Kevin Reales with ten seconds left in the first round by Technical Knock Out. The fight was scheduled for three rounds.
“I am happy with the result, I just wish the fight had gone a little longer, so Malcolm could have gained a little more experience,” said Coach Duzong.
Training continued. The boxers and coach regularly watch and re-watch videos of their fights. They look for ways to improve.
Philips competed in the United States at the Sugar Bert National Boxing Championship in Florida. Philips had to win two fights to take his class and earn a championship belt. Philips faced Joseph Trubilla for the belt in November. The referee stopped the fight in the second round.
To reach the title bout, Philips faced Qu Fangming. The bout went the full three rounds. Philips won by decision.
“Before I started training with Coach Duzong I had lost all my fights,” said Philips. “Now I am a champion.”
In addition to being a champion-building coach, Earl Duzong is a talented actor. His latest part was that of King Solomon in the Cole Bay Methodist Church's production of “The Rise and Fall of King Solomon”.
Earl also played locally-produced, internationally acclaimed 2008 film “PanMan, Rhythm of the Palms” produced by the late-great Ian Valz.
Duzong is not satisfied with just two champions. He, with the help of his son and Philips, is busy training the next generation of boxers. They work out of a make shift gym at the Tire Center in Cole Bay.
“We will have these boxers with us until they are 18,” said Duzong. “If they have the passion and are willing to work hard, we can help them become champions.” He beamed, “One boy asked for a pair of boxing gloves for Christmas.”
