James Oyebola may or may not be a name
that many outside of the United Kingdom are instantly
familiar with. He was born in Lagos, Nigeria in 1961, yet,
grew up in Great Britain where he found a love for boxing;
after all, at 6 feet 9 inches and with an 85 inch reach you
may say he was somewhat of a natural.
Aged 25 he began to flourish as a
promising amateur for the popular London All Stars boxing
club and in 1986 he won the national ABA Championship at
Super heavyweight earning himself a place on the England
squad at the Commonwealth games that very year in
Edinburgh, Scotland. James surprised many by making his
way through to the semi-final stages where he met and was
stopped by Lennox Lewis of Canada in 2 rounds, eventually
winning a treasured Bronze medal. In 1987 he again won the
ABA Championships then turned towards the paid ranks under
the guidance of Frank Maloney where he started to make a
name for himself as a dangerous knockout artist in a very
tough domestic scene that involved Frank Bruno, Lennox
Lewis, Gary Mason and Herbie Hide.
James was never world class but on his
finer moments he was showcased on some high profile shows,
handing Scott Welch his first KO loss in Atlantic City on
the Lennox Lewis v Phillip Jackson undercard in 1994. On
perhaps his proudest moment he won the prestigious British
Heavyweight Championship by knocking out highly touted
Clifton Mitchell in 4 rounds in Cardiff, Wales,
before retiring following losses to Scott Welch in a
return and Julius Francis, tallying a quite credible 18
wins 4 losses, a single draw and a staggering 16
Knockouts.
James was known as "Big, Bad" James
Oyebola but his nature actually couldn’t be more further
from the truth, He was a gentle family man with a loving
partner and two young kids. James worked part-time as
nightclub security; he also managed current Commonwealth
Welterweight Champion Ajose Olugesun.
James came up the hard route and out of
boxing helped youths in his area find their way in life by
setting up youth organizations and charities. Last week
James and his former manager were due to fly out to Ghana
to receive an award for contributions to African boxing
but sadly this is where this nice story ends.
A week ago last Monday James was
visiting a friend's wine bar in the evening after work, he
hung out for a while before approaching three young men
who appeared to be smoking in a no smoking zone in the
courtyard of the establishment. James apparently asked the
men politely to extinguish their cigarettes when one of
the three pulled out a handgun and fired mercilessly into
James' face and legs before leaving the scene on foot. The
shots tore through into the former Champ, leaving him
brain dead for 4 days in Charring Cross Hospital before he
sadly lost his brave battle at 12:39 on Friday 27th
July with family and friends by his bedside.
James was a Champion in life as well as
outside of the ring and to imagine more unjustifiable way
to go I could not. The last time I spoke to James was in
Liverpool, while watching Audley Harrison demolish
journeyman Wade Lewis in a handful of rounds.. He was just
like he always was, dressed immaculately towering
awesomely above everyone, the single sign of his age, a
pair of tiny spectacles. James had only praise for the
then unbeaten Harrison, whispering to me, “he has skills,
but then again so did I...”
I wish I had spent a bit more time, but
time is precious as too is life. The cowards that
committed this kind of crime only wished they were a
fraction of the man that James was. I believe that a fund
is being set up by friends and family of James Oyebola so
that from James’ passing we may find something positive.
Questions? Comments? Email Martin
Stephen Jones
here
