RIP Elisha Obed

[bennie]

Former world light-middleweight champion Elisha Obed died on Thursday in his native Nassau in the Bahamas at the age of 66.
The smooth, lethal-punching Obed looked destined for a long reign when he stopped swarthy Brazilian Miguel de Oliveira in 11 rounds for the WBC title in Paris in November 1975 but after two successful defences he shockingly quit in the 10th round of a fight he was winning against German challenger Eckhard Dagge and the man's aura of invincibility had gone. It was only his second defeat in 67 fights.
Sadly, Obed found himself in demand as an ex-world champion with zero confidence and he spent the remaining years of his career boosting the records of messrs Ayub Kalule, Rocky Mattioli, Bobby Czyz, Fully Obel, Curtis Parker and too many others who could really fight and really hurt him. He finally called it a day in 1988 with a record of 90-21-4 (61) and spent his final years in poor health, living with a sister and blind in the left eye.

[scartissue]

Man, I remember Obed well. He was not a manufactured product, he really could fight. As Bennie mentioned, the win over DeOliviera was brutal. He showed real heart beating a solid champ like MD. But his wins prior to that showed he was the real deal. Wins over Bunny Grant, Sandy Torres, Manuel Elizondo, Renato Garcia, Johnny Rico, Paco Flores, Fernand Marcotte, a draw with Dario Hidalgo and a KO over Mexican hard man Chucho Garcia was nothing to sneeze at. But after the Dagge fight he was just fodder for anyone coming along. I don't know if it was vision problems or what I believe - like Mando Ramos and Wilfredo benitez - he turned pro so young that he had a fast burn-out. Regardless, RIP, champ.

[scorpio83]

RIP Elisha Obed former World Junior Middleweight Champion

[ron4972]

RIP Elisha Obed.

I remember Obed when everyone thought he was undefeated. I started following boxing in 1975 as a kid, buying my first magazines that summer. Obed was getting lots of sensational coverage from International/World Boxing. When the news came out a little later that Obed might have suffered a defeat a decade earlier, as a teenager, I was fascinated. I was shocked to see that the evidence -- a newspaper clipping from the Bahamas reproduced in the boxing magazine -- described the young Obed as "hapless."

Just for the record, I recall that I didn't believe the reports of Obed's early career defeat from the 1960s. I figured it was just a case of mistaken identity.

In June 1976, I was shocked to hear that Obed had been TKO'd and dethroned by Germany's Eckhard Dagge. I wondered how that could have happened. Even the boxing magazines said that Obed appeared to be ahead on points when he suddenly quit in the 10th round. The word was that Dagge's slow but steady body attack did more damage to Obed than the eye could see. I am frustrated that I have never seen a copy of that bout.

Most amazing of all, however, was Obed's dramatic downward slide after losing to Dagge. From 1976 onward, Obed was beaten routinely, sometimes by mediocre opponents. What an incredible change in performance-levels for Obed. I wonder what went wrong.

[ron4972]

... blind in the left eye.

That may explain why Obed fell from world-level status to worn out clubfighter so quickly and dramatically. Maybe Obed was doing what Sugar Ray Seales was doing: fighting in spite of blindness or near blindness in one eye.