WHEN the bulletins over the respective radio stations confirmed the tragic passing of top female boxer Jizelle ’Magic’ Salandy in the early hours of last Sunday, the psyche of an entire country was terribly scarred. Salandy, owing to the exploits of her pugilistic skill-in a sport which the critics deem barbaric but the purists refer to as the sweet science-had over the past few years become a household in Trinidad and Tobago.

So one of T&T’s sporting beacons was snuffed out in an instant, in a horrific vehicular accident which also resulted in female footballer Tamar Watson suffering serious injuries. And while the entire nation is forced to come to terms with the sobering reality, that we won’t ever see Salandy glove-up again, for those closest to the 21-year-old multiple junior middleweight title holder, the void left in their own lives must seem infinite. And maybe no one moreso than the former local champion’s manager/matchmaker, Boxu Potts.

Potts’ candor has made him a controversial figure within the boxing community as well as with some of the sport’s past administrations because of the sometimes stinging criticism from the one-time jockey.

Yesterday however, his mood was anything but combative. He recalled the first time he saw Salandy.

It was in south, at the White Eagle gym. ’She (Salandy) was just about 11 years-old. I told Kim Quashie ’that girl going to reach far’.. She stood awkward while punching. I enquired into more about her and learned she had lost both her parents and was staying with a Ms Ivie.

’I continued to follow her career through the early years and when her then manager, Fitzroy Richards, was able to secure honourary citizenship for her in Curacao, I co-promoted the fight or the IBERO (Latin American) title which she won. She was just 14... which is a record. Shortly thereafter, Curtis Joseph became involved with her. He adopted her and thought he could manage her career. But that proved a failure’.

Potts said that Joseph hooked up a managerial contract with a US organisation (ESEE) but they could not make fights for Salandy and her career went into a state of stasis, as she was inactive for a long period. According to Potts, Salandy became frustrated as she wanted to fight and wanted out of that arrangement.

And even though Joseph tried to avoid her becoming involved on a Potts promotion, the teenage sensation intimated to her close confidante, Quashie, that she wished to fight and represent her country, regardless of who the promoter was. Potts claimed Salandy instructed Quashie to link-up with him, so that the ’new team’ could move forward.

Potts has been associated with Salandy in the capacity of manager/promoter for the past three years, in which time Salandy, set and broke her own records, for simultaneously holding six and later on eight world titles. ’She is the only fighter male ore female to have achieved such a feat. Not even Muhammad Ali or Sugar Ray Leonard could boast of that,’ Potts asserted.

The former lightweight jockey contended Salandy is the most decorated fighter in the annals of the sport and without hesitation, stated she had the best boxing mind of the fighters he’s handled.

Over the years, Potts has managed quite a few fighters, including Barbadian Tyronne Downes, a useful contender back in the 1980s, and Guyanese Wayne Braithwaite, whom he steered to a light-heavyweight world title some years ago, to mention just two. On a personal level, Potts found Salandy to be one of the most strong-minded individuals he had come across, and because of her passion to represent her country, he considered her a true patriot.

’She had so much talent she would execute techniques we (trainers) demonstrated or instructed her, differently, pointing out her way the more effective.’

He remembers her last birthday (Jan 21 last year) when she preferred a thanksgiving and prayers to a big birthday bash. ’Another poignant moment was when she would quietly recite psalm 23 on her seat (stool) between rounds,’ recalls Potts.

For Potts, Salandy’s magic was no optical illusion. And while the country mourns the lost of a great daughter of the soil, the local boxing fraternity has lost its most marketable figure.