Troy Waters funeral: Boxing legend remembered for his infectious laugh and sense of humour
HUNDREDS gathered today to farewell boxing Hall of Farmer Troy Waters. To the world, he was a boxing champion, to the community he was a champion role model and to his wife and family he was a champion brother, son, uncle, father and soulmate.
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TO THE world Troy Waters was a boxing champion, to the community he was a champion role model and to his wife and family he was a champion brother, son, uncle, father and soulmate.
Hundreds gathered at Greenway Chapel at Green Point on Wednesday to pay their respects to the 53-year-old who tragically lost his long battle with leukaemia on May 18 surrounded by his loved ones.
The boxing Hall of Farmer’s casket was carried into the chapel by his brothers Dean and Guy, his son Nate and a close friend “Chop”.
READ: Q&A WITH TROY WATERS — HIS LIFE IN HIS WORDS
In a tribute from his wife Michelle, read by Donna Knee, she described how the pair met and finally exchanged numbers after some time because they were “both shy people”.
She said he eventually sought her father’s permission before proposing “in the boxing ring”.
“He whispered to me he knew I couldn’t say no in front of so many people”.
Mrs Waters said if she had known how hard the last few years were going to be as he fought leukaemia and how devastated she felt now after 22 wonderful years of marriage, she would have “done it all again” anyway.
His sister Tracy told mourners, who spilt out onto balconies of the chapel and watched on a large screen, that after his diagnosis four years ago “Troy had more bad days than good”.
She described the “cruel” chemotherapy treatments as having a “devastating treatment” on his body but never once did Waters “wallow in self pity”.
“His body never quite recovered from the aggressive treatment,” she said.
“But that infectious laugh and sense of humour was never far away.”
Tracy said despite the illness Troy never lost his faith in God or “questioned why?”.
“Michelle … I thank you for loving my goofy brother,” she said choking back tears.
“I love you and we are forever family.”
Dean spoke of when Troy first met Michelle at Terrigal and the brothers jumped in Dean’s car to go “check her out” in the shop where she worked.
After driving around the block three times Dean said they still hadn’t seen this “angel” he was talking about.
“By the third time I started to panic because I thought people are going to think we’re stalking this girl or we were a couple of creeps so we had to call it off,” he said.
“I want to talk about something with Troy, I didn’t see him scared much but, ahh, unless it was me old man chasing us with a thing hammer or a rust case pipe and then I seen him scared,” he said.
But Dean said he was staying with Troy and Michelle once and in the morning Troy “looked wired”.
“I said `what happened to you?’ and he said he `woke up at 3.30am to a bloodcurdling scream’.
“I said `what are ya talking about?’ And then I said `did you come in and see me, if I was alright?’
“I’ll never forget what he said, he said `Deany, whatever it was that was scaring you I wanted no part of’.”
His brother Guy said when they were quite young and still living in the UK he once threw a bottle to Troy and yelled “duck” but his younger brother popped his head up instead.
Guy said even an old heavy glass bottle “couldn’t knock him out”.
Following several tributes mourners watched a video montage of Troy’s life in pictures before a video of his “final journey”.
He had been battling acute myeloid leukaemia, a rare form of blood cancer, since July 2014 and underwent brutal chemotherapy sessions and a bone-marrow transplant in December 2014 courtesy of his big brother, Dean, a former Australian heavyweight boxing champion.
After numerous lengthy stints in hospital, it appeared he was finally recovering only for it to return eight weeks later.
Waters unsuccessfully challenged for a world title three times. He was outpointed by Italy’s IBF world champion Ginafranco Rosi in 1989.
Waters was stopped in the third round against American WBC champion Terry Norris in 1993 and lost a decision to Jamaica’s WBC titleholder Simon Brown in 1994.
Waters fought for the last time in 1998, finishing with a professional record of 28-5 with 20 knockouts.
Waters was inducted into the Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame in 2009 and is survived by wife Michelle, son Nate and daughter Shontae.
The Waters brothers’ father Cec was so violent Troy and Guy fled their Kulnura farm in the late 1980s.
In 1988, Cec convinced Dean and another man training at the property, Damon Cooper, to kill horsebreaker Alan Hall, the Waters’ stepmother’s lover, with a shotgun.
In 1996, Dean walked into Wyong Police Station and confessed to the murder. Cec died in early 1997 before the trial began.
Dean was later acquitted of murder after a Newcastle Supreme Court jury found Dean not guilty because of diminished responsibility.
