Remembering Trevor Berbick

Today I find myself thinking on the passing of a very old friend. As most of you have heard by now, heavyweight boxer Trevor Berbick was found dead this weekend, apparently with the back of head smashed in by a blunt object. An ongoing land dispute seems to have been the motivating factor and a suspect is in custody. A sad but not entirely unexpected ending to a troubled life. Due to having fought Ali in his twilight and the shattering loss to Tyson in his prime, Trevor's out of the ring antics always garnered more copy than his boxing. It's a shame. When I knew him back in 1979/80 he was an up and coming force to be reckoned with. Much is made of his time spent in Montreal but in fact when he came from Jamaica he set up camp in Halifax first. Back in those days of old, my dear friends John and Jean Moraze puchased the old Misty Moon and Tap tavern. They kept the Tap running and let the Moon rest. I would be snuck in to the Tap kitchen and ride the dumb waiter up to the vacant night club above where I was given a small back room office to put my little fanzines and such together. After a couple of hours of good work, I'd scoot back down to the kitchen in the dumb waiter and be sent off to my night job with a nice old leathery steak and some cold mash. Still like the stuff!
It wasn't long before Trevor and his camp put the ring up in that open sapce and the training crew wanted me out of my little office space and I remeber Trevor coming over to my spot in his gear, drenched in sweat from his recent workout and looking around my tiny spot. He damn near filled the room with his hulking figure, eyeing my posters and assorted clippings, and clutching the galley for an upcoming 'zine, he looks back at his handlers and says "if this crazy assed white kid wanna write around a bunch of boxing "(black men)" then he's ok with me" and that was that!
I watched him train for a few months before he moved on and I follwed his career right to the end.
I share this with you for a much larger reason than just remembering Trevor. It is to remind you that while the papers and news will make much of his violent and disturbed life, there once was a young man with dreams and ambitions.
Dreams and ambition. Bad choices no doubt had a lot to do with how his life turned out, but, while others choose to remember him as a criminal, let us remeber for what he was......a boxer, through and through.