BoxRec

So I was just watching a music show on television and he was on there performing a single off his new album. I didn't know too much about him up until this point though I knew he was a middleweight contender back in the day. Just curious, why does he wear a patch over his eye?

he has said it all started with a boxing related detached retina and orbital fracture. created double vision at the time and things got worse. i have read he is legally blind in the eye, but i dont have a source for that information.

He had decent overall skills. Tall, athletic fighter (MW and SMW) with decent power, average chin.

He never beat a name fighter. He was stopped by Iran Barkley in 5 and soundly outboxed by Frank Tate and Thomas Hearns in his only World title fights.

He finished at 27-5 (18) and was stopped twice.

Was it Thomas Hearns who damged his eye? He only fought once after Hearns. After Hearns he did not fight for a year and when he did he was stopped by an unknown fighter.

"The Silk," lol...a MW I caught in the late 80s. He possesed a huge punch, and that was pretty much it. I saw him fight mostly on CBS. He lost to Frank Tate in IBF MW title fight, that I didn't see, but I recall when Iran Barkley stretched him...

So the show he was on last night was "Fearless Music." Here's a little blurb about the performance:

"MICHAEL OLAJIDE (Performing: Feelin Love)- Born in Liverpool,
England, Michael moved to Vancouver, Canada in 1970, and at the age of 18 began
boxing professionally. Known as Silk, Michael's boxing record was
28 wins and 4 losses. He became the No. 1 ranked middleweight contender in the
world. In 1991, Michael became legally blind in his right eye, hence
ending his boxing career. He moved on to other things, such as co-founding
Aerospace High Performance Center. Fearless Music marks Michael¹s
first time performing live, as he recently decided to create music. For more info
on Michael, check out www.aerospacenyc.com.

He was a model, more than he was a fighter.

He could fight. Hearns failed to budge him, and Barkley could do that to almost anyone, but his persona was always too flash for the liking of most hardcore boxing fans.
Still, he definitely 'earned' that IBF title fight with Tate, with some nice wins.

Got quite a bit of hype based on some hand speed and a Wacko-Jacko style wet perm... In fairness, as bennie says, he was a decent fighter. You had to be a very good fighter to beat him.

Best win was probably the stoppage of Don Lee.

I guess my point being, Olajide was nothing special because he lost all his big fights.
I mean damn, Barkley wasn't anything special himself, but he had heart 'n grit, and he beat some fighters he shouldn't have. :idea:

There was another MW prospect fightin' around the same time as Olajide, his name was Lamar Parks, out of South Carolina. Skillwise, I felt he hd more upside to him than Olajide;he as solid ring technician. He lost his only world title bid, to Reggie Johnson, fought a handful of fights after that loss, and faded away.

Anyone know what happened to him?

ts20743 wrote:There was another MW prospect fightin' around the same time as Olajide, his name was Lamar Parks, out of South Carolina. Skillwise, I felt he hd more upside to him than Olajide;he as solid ring technician. He lost his only world title bid, to Reggie Johnson, fought a handful of fights after that loss, and faded away.

Anyone know what happened to him?

He was one of the first high-profile boxers to contract HIV (sleeping around, as opposed to drugs). Shame.

Michael lost his vision. Tukumbo (sp) got KOed and decided he would rather be a professional sax player or some crap.