Ringside view of a St Vincent-UK boxer’s life
Going for Gold photo: James Potter
Daniel Nelson
Black boxers have had to fight their way to the top in Britain.
Len Johnson fell foul of the 1911 colour bar that said contestants must have two White parents, but he beat British and European champions; Bunny Sterling was the first Caribbean immigrant to win a British title, sparking “highly disgusting” ringside scenes; Bunny Johnson had to wait 10 years to become eligible to fight for a British title, which he subsequently did and won;
They paved the way for many others, such as Clinton MacKenzie who won British, European and Commonwealth titles; Hogan "Kid" Bassey, a naturalised Brit and the first man of Nigerian descent to become a world boxing champion; Duke MacKenzie, a three-weight world champion; and John Conteh, who became a national hero.
Now Going For Gold puts another Black boxer centre-stage at the Park theatre.
It’s a painful story, as are many boxing tales. An outstanding talent frustrated by the chicanery and rivalries of boxing promoters, Frankie Lucas arrived in the UK from St Vincent when he was nine.
He rises through the ranks but when he’s not selected to represent Britain at the Commonwealth Games his boxing club mentors set up a St Vincent Boxing Federation so Lucas can represent his country of origin at the Games, where he wins gold — and beats a British competitor on the way.
He’s still young, and there’s a lot more life to come. And that’s the trouble with the play: it’s like a documentary, tracking his fights, his family, his decline. But the chronological detail spanning the late 1960s to 2023 comes at the expense of a deeper look at the development of the main characters as they react to one another and change over time.
There’s much to like about the acting and the production, and the decline and fall of an international sportsman holds considerable interest. But theatre demands a little more, and in the end this show doesn’t tell you enough about the people involved, or even whether it was racism, murky business practices, weed, anger, mental flaws that brought him down. All probably played a part.
+ Going For Gold, £25-£10, is at the Park Theatre, Clifton Terrace, N4 3JP until 30 November. Info:Park