BoxRec

His fight vs Assen Vassilev is on Eurosport now.

Freiheit wrote:His fight vs Assen Vassilev is on Eurosport now.

oh the pain.

He actually looked quite good in spurts but every time he landed good shots he stood back and did nothing afterwards. If he'd pressed he would have got a knockout.

Some of the uppercuts he landed were mightily impressive.

You have to say he's pretty sharp still for a 40yr old fighter.

Akinwande versus Ruiz?


Bueller?

Anyone?



Yep, in decent nick for a forty-year-old, I'll give him that. Not taken that many shots, though...

The way I see it Akinwande had all the tools to have been a Top 3 heavyweight for the past 10 years, he just didn't have the mindset. I remember Manny Steward saying something to that effect when he was training him for the Holyfield fight that never happened. I also remember Henry actually forced Lennox to touch down in their fight although the referee didn't call the knockdown. Akinwande's style and skills should have given Lewis one of his more difficult fights.

Yep, all in all not bad for a 40 year old after a 12 month lay-off.

He may as well carry on for a bit now he's back, even if he doesn't get a Valuev fight. I suppose he'd have to aim for a title shot along with everyone else. Would be interesting to see where, if anywhere, he fits in on bodies' rankings, given his past.

Is he most definitely Nigerian now, no EBU's or anything going to enter the equasion?

jomothepure wrote:Is he most definitely Nigerian now, no EBU's or anything going to enter the equasion?

I think he gave up his British citizenship and is just a Nigerian citizen again now. I seem to remember reading once that he comes from a relatively well-to-do family in Nigeria, so he wasn't exactly escaping from poverty when he left. Can't remember why he came to the UK, whether it was to further his boxing career or some other reason, but he did box amateur here and took an ABA title.

I remember he was selected for the Olympics, I can't remember which one it was , might have been Barcelona or Soeul.
To represent Britain, then promptly had all his benefits stopped as he wasn't activley looking for work, and had to find sponsership to fund his training and travel.
At least we have the lottery money now so this won't happen again.

Going back to Akinwande i 'm pretty sure he went out in the first round of bouts, not sure who he lost to though

topper123 wrote:I remember he was selected for the Olympics, I can't remember which one it was , might have been Barcelona or Soeul.
To represent Britain, then promptly had all his benefits stopped as he wasn't activley looking for work, and had to find sponsership to fund his training and travel.
At least we have the lottery money now so this won't happen again.

Going back to Akinwande i 'm pretty sure he went out in the first round of bouts, not sure who he lost to though

Are you sure that was Akinwande? He turned pro in 1989 so he may have been up for consideration for Seoul, but I don't remember whether he ever went. I know he did make it to 2 ABA finals, in 1988 he lost by DQ I think, and in 1989 he won, and I think he beat Herbie Hide in the final.

Hesketh Vampire wrote:

topper123 wrote:I remember he was selected for the Olympics, I can't remember which one it was , might have been Barcelona or Soeul.
To represent Britain, then promptly had all his benefits stopped as he wasn't activley looking for work, and had to find sponsership to fund his training and travel.
At least we have the lottery money now so this won't happen again.

Going back to Akinwande i 'm pretty sure he went out in the first round of bouts, not sure who he lost to though

Are you sure that was Akinwande? He turned pro in 1989 so he may have been up for consideration for Seoul, but I don't remember whether he ever went. I know he did make it to 2 ABA finals, in 1988 he lost by DQ I think, and in 1989 he won, and I think he beat Herbie Hide in the final.

I could well have been mistaken, no idea who i'm confusing him with then.

Im not sure but I think Akinwande did participate in the 88 olympics where he lost to Arnold Vanderlijde.

Freiheit wrote:Im not sure but I think Akinwande did participate in the 88 olympics where he lost to Arnold Vanderlijde.

Maybe he did, he would have been our leading super-heavy in 1988.

Freiheit wrote:Im not sure but I think Akinwande did participate in the 88 olympics where he lost to Arnold Vanderlijde.

Cheers mate that sounds right, i'm not going insane after all

It was him.
Record: Amateur:
1986: Great-Britain Heavyweight: 2°
+ D. Stewart points
+ A. Denham points
+ I. Joseph points
+ D. Simmonds points
+ R. Flanagan kot 1
+ L. Maxwell points
- E. Cardouza disq.3
1987: Great-Britain Heavyweight: 2°
+ Roger Mc Kenzie points
+ T. Denham kot 1
+ A. Kerrick points
+ M. Stevens ab.1
+ G. Sanderson points
+ K. Mc Cormack ko 1
- Jim Moran disq.
1988: Great-Britain Heavyweight: 1°
+ T. Denham kot 1
+ M. Stevens points
+ Darren Westover points
+ S. Henry points
+ R. Martin kot 1
+ H. Hylton points
1988: Olympic Games Seoul Heavyweight:
- Arnold Vanderlijde (P-B) points
1989: Great-Britain Heavyweight: 1°
+ J. Lewis points
+ M. Lynch kot 1
+ B. Auckett ko 1
+ D. Abbott kot 2
+ Chris Coughlin kot 1
+ Herbie Hide points

Freiheit wrote:Im not sure but I think Akinwande did participate in the 88 olympics where he lost to Arnold Vanderlijde.

Why did Vanderlijde never turn professional? Holland wasn't part of the Soviet Bloc that I was aware of!

Freiheit wrote:It was him.
Record: Amateur:
1986: Great-Britain Heavyweight: 2°
+ D. Stewart points
+ A. Denham points
+ I. Joseph points
+ D. Simmonds points
+ R. Flanagan kot 1
+ L. Maxwell points
- E. Cardouza disq.3
1987: Great-Britain Heavyweight: 2°
+ Roger Mc Kenzie points
+ T. Denham kot 1
+ A. Kerrick points
+ M. Stevens ab.1
+ G. Sanderson points
+ K. Mc Cormack ko 1
- Jim Moran disq.
1988: Great-Britain Heavyweight: 1°
+ T. Denham kot 1
+ M. Stevens points
+ Darren Westover points
+ S. Henry points
+ R. Martin kot 1
+ H. Hylton points
1988: Olympic Games Seoul Heavyweight:
- Arnold Vanderlijde (P-B) points
1989: Great-Britain Heavyweight: 1°
+ J. Lewis points
+ M. Lynch kot 1
+ B. Auckett ko 1
+ D. Abbott kot 2
+ Chris Coughlin kot 1
+ Herbie Hide points

2 DQ losses there...

At least he knocked the shit out of Ricky Martin

Coconut wrote:2 DQ losses there...

I think they were for holding as well, clearly it all started from an early age! I suppose it was the same problem - the big stage and he gets the stagefright - answer? Get hugging

I remember the amatuer fight against Herbie Hide, there was a massive size difference, and Hide did give it a real go. quite an entertaining fight.

Akinwande never reached his potential , i really had high hopes for him after he won the WBO title with an excellent KO of Jeremy Williams.
Maybe he didn't beleive in himself enough, i definetly think his problems in fights were in his mind, as he had the physical tools to reach the top.

Vanderlijde was a 91kg bronze medallist in Seoul, so Henry was fighting at the heavyweight limit back then, rather than super-heavy? He must have been a real stringbean.

topper123 wrote:he had the physical tools to reach the top.

Realistically, he has the physical tools to reach a lot of things...

Coconut wrote:

topper123 wrote:he had the physical tools to reach the top.

Realistically, he has the physical tools to reach a lot of things...

boom boom

He reached the top of Lennox's head and found a sweet spot no-one else did.

Hesketh Vampire wrote:He reached the top of Lennox's head and found a sweet spot no-one else did.

Rahman and McCall found sweeter spots.....

nickd wrote:

Hesketh Vampire wrote:He reached the top of Lennox's head and found a sweet spot no-one else did.

Rahman and McCall found sweeter spots.....

Yeah but Henry found his own personal spot you see, that only he could get to.