New Book on Maurice ‘Termite’ Watkins Now Available

A new book titled Termite, which tells the story of Maurice ‘Termite’ Watkins, has been published. Watkins, of Deer Park, Texas, grew up in the pest control business and was the Iraqi Boxing Coach in the ’04 Olympics.

Watkins went to Iraq to serve his country as a pest management professional. In an amazing sequence of events, he became that war-torn country’s Olympic boxing coach. The book Termite will provide the basis for a movie produced by Fred Kuehnert, known for the Academy-award winning movie, The Buddy Holly Story.

Watkins felt a calling to travel to Iraq and serve his country. Employed as one of the top producing new car salesmen in the country, when he told his wife of this calling, she replied, “I didn’t get that call, Termite.” Once in Iraq, a chance encounter with a British officer revealed Watkins’ illustrious boxing past, including his tenure as national Golden Gloves Champ and a world title bout. Asked what the chances were of getting an Olympic team together in time for Athens, he replied, “One chance in a million.”

Watkins took that one chance and made it happen. He traveled to a Baghdad soccer field with armed soldiers to meet Iraq’s best boxers. Watkins was stunned to find them fighting without headgear, mouthpieces, and even shoes. He took these twenty-four men back to Hilla in southern Iraq and built a training camp for his new team. Overcoming tremendous obstacles, Watkins took the team to three Olympic trials and coached their one qualifier, Najah Ali, in the Athens games.

In recognition of his accomplishments with the Iraqi boxing team under the most trying of conditions, Watkins received the prestigious Arete Award for overcoming tremendous obstacles in sports and an honorary award from the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Author Suzy Pepper is originally from Houston, Texas and grew up only a few houses from Watkins. Published in the educational field, this is Pepper’s first book. The book is available at Barnes & Noble, www.termitewatkins.com, Amazon.com, and other stores.