World boxing champion Ria Ramnarine yesterday explained at length how impractical is was for anyone to try to live up to the expectations of all with whom they come into contact.
She did, however, move to impress upon her teen audience the need to develop self-esteem and character, bounded by discipline and dedication in order to achieve in life.
Speaking on the topic Down, But Not Out at the Secondary Schools Leadership Symposium titled No Pain, No Gain held at the Cascadia Hotel and Conference Centre in St Ann’s Port-of-Spain, she said, “If each one of you has a different expectation of me within the next five minutes, how am I going to live up to each and everyone’s expectation? You have to know your self-worth. That’s the only way you can motivate yourself. There is no greater motivator than you. And for me, personally, that’s one of the greatest tools I have in always rising back to the occasion.”
Making a case for female athletes pursuing a career in contact sports, Ramnarine said she’s been dropped in many fights and that her buttocks and back hit the canvas a couple times. She even dropped to her knees, but because of her resolve not once did she stay down.
“I’ve always risen back up. You always have to take the eight-count and rise back up. If the referee decides to count you out, you can’t argue. But in your heart you must know you gave everything, plus some more. It should never be that you held back something,” she said.
“The track and field guys will leave it all out on the track. You don’t take anything back to the training room with you. What you are keeping back could have been the deciding factor in whether you won or you lost. Think about it! You have ten seconds to go in a competition and your arms are burning…they are tired…they are on fire. Your legs can’t move. If you just push for that five more seconds, that might be the deciding factor. You might be down on points and knock the person down and they might not be able to get up. So, it really comes down to who wants it more,” Ramnarine said.
She made it clear, however, that the level of conviction of which she spoke doesn’t come easy, but rather, with experience, hard work, and all-round support.
“People think boxing is a one-man, one-woman sport. At the end of the day it’s one woman in the ring, but listen, if you don’t have a team to prepare you to get into that ring, I’m sorry…it’s very unlikely you are going to be successful. It’s very unlikely you are going to rise back up to the occasion. You really have to show your fighting spirit when the results isn’t going your way. That’s when it really shows who you are, that warrior inside,” said Ramnarine.
She added, “Anyone can move on from a victory. People see you moving on from victory to victory and your confidence builds; you are on a high. And yes, you can keep moving on, but what about when you lose?
“How many of us can move on from a defeat? How many of us can pick ourselves back up and move on? I’ve known a lot of boxers (and) their first fight in the ring they lost. We never heard from them again.
“They were like the more talented ones. I’m speaking locally and internationally. Then, there are the ones who lost their first fight—and, you know what? Today, they are world champions. They experienced what it was like being down very early, and they learned how to get up.”