Trinidad and Tobago 70s boxing star Walter Peters dies

WALTER Peters, 1968 national welterweight champion and accomplished retired international professional boxer, has died at 74.

Peters died on August 30 after suffering from complications of cervical spondylosis (degeneration of bones and discs in the neck) resulting in paralysis, after a fall on August 5.

Peters’ professional career representing TT at home, in the US and Europe, spanned from around 1970-1980.

He is survived by three sons, Walter Jr, Christopher and Kyle, and one daughter, Jenelle, and his widow Agnes Peters. They would have celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary in December.

Peters claimed a professional record of 36 wins and eight losses, although his record on the boxing website boxrec.com counts four wins by knockout, 13 losses by knockout and one draw.

His son Christopher told Newsday he had written in vain to boxrec.com several years ago to have the information corrected.

Christopher described his father’s death as tragic and unexpected, since he was otherwise completely healthy before the accident.

“He was a great father and a wonderful role model to a lot of people,” he told Newsday.

Christopher said Peters had shared his knowledge and experience with the boxing community.

“My father spent the majority of his life trying to gain knowledge of the boxing artform in a bid to pass on that knowledge to anyone who showed the slightest interest. All you had to do to get him started was mention the word ‘boxing’.”

Peters sat on the T&T Boxing Board up until the mid-2000s and continued to serve as a coach at El Dorado Senior Comprehensive (now El Dorado East Secondary). He also led programmes at the Youth Training Centre (YTC), St Michael’s Home for Boys and several other institutions.

Born in Grenada, Peters migrated to Trinidad when he was nine. He first lived in Wharton Street, Laventille, before moving to Tunapuna, where he met his future wife, and eventually settled in Curepe, up until his death.

Peters travelled extensively, living, training and fighting in Italy for nearly three years, as well as competing in many other countries.

As documented in the media, Peters rallied to have boxing regain the popularity it held while he was active, even though he blamed himself and other boxers from his era for not doing enough to pass on their knowledge to young athletes.

In spite of this, Peters was widely regarded in the boxing community as a champion of and for the sport, indeed sharing his expertise decades after his retirement from the ring by means of coaching, mentoring and his administrative contributions.

Peters’ funeral will be held at the Our Lady of Fatima RC Church in Curepe on Thursday at 12.30 pm.