Everette Ferguson BEM (21 February 1952 – 28 June 2018), better known as Elisha Obed was a Bahamian light middleweight

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

. He is the only professional world boxing champion in history to come from

the Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...

Boxing career

Amateur career

Obed entered the amateur ranks at age 12. Fighting almost weekly, he ran up an undefeated record of 46-0 (16 knockouts). At the age of 14, he became a professional boxer.

Professional career

For almost 6 years, he lingered on small promotions on the island of Nassau, in the Bahamas. He was billed as undefeated, but he had lost a fight by knockout to veteran Kid Carew. His loss to Kid Carew was unlisted for almost 8 years, as he was reported incorrectly as undefeated in the press until his loss to Eckhard Dagge. Veteran trainer and promoter Moe Fleischer travelled to Nassau to "check-out" this upcoming prospect. Mike Dundee, nephew of

Angelo Dundee Angelo is an Italian masculine given name and surname meaning "angel", or "messenger". People People with the given name *Angelo Accattino (born 1966), Italian prelate of the Catholic Church *Angelo Acciaioli (bishop) (1298–1357), Italian Rom ...

, came in as his manager. Soon after, Obed was fighting main events. He earned a top ten ranking by knocking out former title contender

Bunny Grant George Leslie "Bunny" Grant (29 September 1940 – 1 November 2018) was a Jamaican professional feather/ super feather/light/ light welter/welterweight/ light middleweight boxer of the 1950s, '60s and '70s who won the Jamaican lightweight ti ...

. Obed made his U.S. debut in Florida. Knocked out every top middleweight boxer in Florida in the early 1970s, including state Champion Dennis Riggs and former champion Jimmy Williams. In 1975, he captured the WBC Light Middleweight Title by defeating

Miguel de Oliveira Miguel de Oliveira (30 September 1947 – 15 October 2021) was a Brazilian middleweight boxer. Life and career De Oliveira was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil in September 1947. He turned pro in 1968, and on 7 May 1975 he scored a 15-round Unanimou ...

. He defended the title twice before losing the belt to Germany's

Eckhard Dagge Eckhard Dagge (February 27, 1948 in Probsteierhagen, Germany – April 4, 2006 in Hamburg), was a professional boxing, boxer in the super welterweight (154 pound (mass), lb) division. Eckhard Dagge was Germany's second world champion, after Max ...

in 1976, after which he quit, claiming he had blurred vision. Obed stated that he had been thumbed in the eye by a Dagge. In actuality, he was later found to have a detached retina and was legally blind in that eye. Obed decided to enter the middleweight ranks. He later fought Australian

Rocky Mattioli Rocky Mattioli (born Rocco Mattioli, 20 September 1953) an Italian-born Australian former boxer at junior middleweight, and former world champion. Rocky was the 2004 Inductee for the Australian National Boxing Hall of Fame Moderns category. ...

for the world championship title but was knocked out in the seventh round. By 27, he was back to where he started from, fighting on local fight cards in Nassau. He retired in 1988.

Professional boxing record

Later life

Obed received a British Empire Medal for services to sport in the

2016 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2016 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

. He passed away on 28 June 2018 after a long illness.

References

External links

* , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Obed, Elisha 1952 births 2018 deaths Bahamian male boxers Sportspeople from Nassau, Bahamas Recipients of the British Empire Medal World light-middleweight boxing champions World Boxing Council champions