Ricky Anderson (born in

Africville, Nova Scotia Africville was a small community of predominantly African Nova Scotians located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It developed on the southern shore of Bedford Basin and existed from the early 1800s to the 1960s. From 1970 to the present, a prote ...

) is a Canadian-born former

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

. Anderson was due to represent

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

at the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (russian: Летние Олимпийские игры 1980, Letniye Olimpiyskiye igry 1980), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad (russian: Игры XXII Олимпиады, Igry XXII Olimpiady) and commo ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, but the Canadian teams boycotted the event. He continued to become a top amateur boxer, and later the Canadian Welterweight boxing champion as a pro.

Biography

Early History

Ricky Anderson was born in

, in Canada.

Amateur boxing career

1974-1979

Nova Scotia's Ricky Anderson fought for the first time as an

amateur boxer Amateur boxing is a variant of boxing practiced at the collegiate level, at the Olympic Games, Pan American Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as many associations. Amateur boxing bouts are short in duration, comprising three rounds of three ...

in 1974. He’d eventually win the 1974 Nova Scotia Flyweight title in his first year as a boxer. In 1975, he captured a silver medal at the 1975 Canada Winter Games held in

Lethbridge, Alberta Lethbridge ( ) is a city in the province of Alberta, Canada. With a population of 101,482 in its 2019 municipal census, Lethbridge became the fourth Alberta city to surpass 100,000 people. The nearby Canadian Rocky Mountains contribute to t ...

. In 1977, Ricky Anderson became the first Canadian-born boxer to beat a Cuban fighter at an international tournament in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. In the 1978 Canadian National Amateur Boxing Championships in Sept-Iles, Quebec, he advanced to the finals but lost by decision. He defeated Dominique Durand in an amateur competition in his hometown of Halifax in February 1979, which was against the French national team. In December 1979, Anderson participated in the Levi's Cup, the first World Junior Championships held by the Amateur International Boxing Association in

Yokohama, Japan is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of ...

. He fell short against Armenian fighter Israel Akopkokhyan in the gold medal round but was the first Canadian to win a silver medal at the Junior World Championship level.

1980

On April 13, 1980, Anderson won the Canadian National Amateur Boxing Championship in

Halifax Halifax commonly refers to: *Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada * Halifax, West Yorkshire, England *Halifax (bank), a British bank Halifax may also refer to: Places Australia *Halifax, Queensland, a coastal town in the Shire of Hinchinbrook *Halifax ...

before the Moscow Olympic boycott was announced on April 22, 1980. On the following month in May, Anderson won a gold medal in the light welterweight division at the 6th International Acropolis Cup tournament held at the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

Athens, Greece Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh List ...

. On June 26, 1980, Ricky was selected for the Canadian Olympic boxing team but did not get the chance to represent his country due to the political boycott of the

Moscow, Russia Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

. The Canadian boxers prepared for alternate competitions. In October 1980, he fought in London at the

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

1981

In April 1981, Anderson won another Canadian National Amateur Boxing Championship in Toronto. Then, in Shreveport, Louisiana, he competed in the North American Amateur Boxing Championships, winning the North American Light Welterweight title by knocking out the U.S. National boxing champion James Mitchell. Following the win over Mitchell, he was named Canadian Athlete of the Month for September by the Canadian Sports Federation. He participated in the 1981

Boxing World Cup The Boxing World Cup was an international boxing event organized by the International Boxing Association (AIBA), featuring boxers competing in different weight divisions. It was held from 1979 to 1998 as an individual competition and from 2002 to ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

Maurice Richard Arena Maurice Richard Arena (french: Aréna Maurice-Richard) is a 4,750-seat multi-purpose arena at Olympic Park in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was built in 1962. It is named in honour of Maurice Richard. The rink was renovated in 1994, the arena inc ...

, and competed for the world championship against light-welterweight Vasily Shyshev of the Soviet Union. He lost a narrow decision in the gold medal round to the Soviet Union fighter. His overall amateur record stands at 97 fights, with 85 wins and 12 losses.

Professional boxing career

On April 30, 1985, Anderson fought Chavez Guerrero for the Canadian Welterweight Boxing Championship. The end came in the eighth round when Anderson delivered a straight left hand that put Chavez down. The Halifax native became the new Canadian

Welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, ...

. In July 1985, he lost in a title defence to Toronto welterweight Donnie Poole who retired afterwards. By December 1985, the Canadian Welterweight title was vacated and Anderson became the two-time Canadian Welterweight Champion in March 1986 with a victory over John Herbert. Anderson trained for the fight at the

Passaic County Passaic County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the population of Passaic County was enumerated at 524,118, an increase of 22,892 (4.6%) from ...

jail in New Jersey. He successfully defended his belt in December 1986 with a unanimous decision over Denis Sigouin of

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

. In 1987, 26-year-old Ricky was forced to retire prematurely from the ring as champion resulting from a stubborn knee injury. His professional record was 19 wins and 2 losses. On May 14, 1990, the two-time Canadian Welterweight Champion was inducted into the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame.

Professional boxing record

Education

Anderson completed his education and graduated from Saint Mary's University receiving his

Sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and ...

degree in 1988.

Work career

Following his 12-year boxing career, he was appointed by the

provincial government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, o ...

as a Drug Prevention Information Officer with Addiction, Prevention, and Treatment Services in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native En ...

. In 1993, Ricky received an offer for a part-time sports broadcasting position. He accepted the role and worked as a

CTV Atlantic CTV Atlantic (formerly known as the Atlantic Television, or ATV) is a system of four television stations in the Maritimes, owned and operated by the CTV Television Network, a division of Bell Media. Despite the name, it is not available on b ...

weekend sportscaster until 1995. Ricky remained at his full-time job as a Drug Prevention Specialist at Addiction Services until his retirement in 2015. On the side, Anderson created his own business, Go Ricky Motivational Services. On

September 1, 2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; ...

, Ricky released "Win in the Arena of Life: Living a Life You Love Is Worth Fighting For", a 158-page

self-help book A self-help book is one that is written with the intention to instruct its readers on solving personal problems. The books take their name from '' Self-Help'', an 1859 best-seller by Samuel Smiles, but are also known and classified under " self ...

published by Aslan Publishing. He also worked as a member of the Nova Scotia Boxing Authority and

Canadian Boxing Federation The sport of boxing has been practised in Canada since before Canadian Confederation in 1867. Boxing was illegal in Canada during the bare-knuckle era but fights took place in remote areas and the last of them was in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1901. ...

, government agencies that regulate professional boxing and mixed martial arts events provincially and federally. Ricky achieved 22 years as a general board member of the Nova Scotia Boxing Authority, at one point becoming Vice-Chairman.

Personal life

Anderson volunteered for 10 years with the Ward 5 Community Centre in

, two years of which he was chairman of the board.

Honors and awards

* Nova Scotia Amateur Fly Weight Champion. (1974) * 1975 Canada Winter Games Silver Medalist. (1975) * Canadian Amateur Junior Featherweight Champion. (1976) *

World Amateur Boxing Championships The IBA World Boxing Championships, and the IBA Women's World Boxing Championships (previously known as AIBA), are biennial amateur boxing competitions organised by the International Boxing Association (IBA), which is the sport governing body. A ...

Silver Medalist. (1979) *

Team Canada Member. (1980) * Sport Nova Scotia's Male Athlete of the Year Award. (1980) * 1981 North American Championships Light-Welterweight Gold Medalist. (1981) * 1981

Light-Welterweight Silver Medalist. (1981) * Canadian Sports Federation's Canadian Athlete of the Month for September. (1981) * Two-time Sport Nova Scotia's Male Athlete of the Year. (1981) * Two-time Canadian Welterweight Champion. (1985 & 1986) * Inductee of the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame. (1990) * Inductee of the

Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame The Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame was established in 1964, to honor outstanding athletes, teams and sport builders in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. The facilities are located at the World Trade and Convention Centre in the provincial ...

. (2003) * Inductee of the Black Ice Hockey and Sports Hall of Fame. (2007)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Ricky Living people Saint Mary's University (Halifax) alumni People from Halifax, Nova Scotia Sportspeople from Halifax, Nova Scotia Sportspeople from Nova Scotia Year of birth missing (living people) Olympic boxers for Canada Canadian male boxers Light-welterweight boxers Welterweight boxers Black Canadian boxers Black Canadian broadcasters Black Nova Scotians Canadian television sportscasters Writers from Halifax, Nova Scotia Black Canadian writers Canadian non-fiction writers People of Black Nova Scotian descent Canadian people of Black Nova Scotian descent