(Published: Thursday | January 16, 2014 – Leroy Brown, Gleaner Writer)
Controversial is the word that best sums up the life of noted sports personality C. Lloyd Allen Jr, who died on Tuesday night at age 67, at his home in Norbrook, after a short illness.
Allen was an avid sportsman and administrator and was president, on various occasions, of both the Jamaica Boxing Board of Control (JBBC) and the Jamaica Lawn Tennis Association (now Tennis Jamaica).
A proud Munro ‘old boy’, he was a former president of the Munro Old Boys’ Association and always sang the praises of his alma mater. At tournaments, he would spend endless hours talking about his exploits on the tennis court at Munro. He also represented the school at table tennis, cricket and hockey.
He had a passion for tennis, and his good friend, John Bailey, who is now the president of Tennis Jamaica, was his regular playing partner. Yesterday, Bailey paid tribute to Allen on behalf of Tennis Jamaica and said that the sport had lost an administrator who made a valuable contribution to the sport for many years, and remained an avid fan and player, up to the time of his death.
Allen served as president of the JBBC on several occasions dating back to 1980.
Boxing Board president Stephen Jones paid tribute to Allen for his years of service to the sport and pointed to the fact that he had made an invaluable contribution to boxing over the years. “The sport will miss him” he said.
Also paying tribute was former president William Tavares-Finson, who pointed to the fact that it was Allen who had introduced him to the administration of boxing in Jamaica. “He was a fixture at all major and even minor boxing cards and really loved the sport,” said Finson.
Allen was also a former chairman of the Institute of Sports
