Olawale O. "Ola" Afolabi (born 15 March 1980) is a British

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

. He is a two-time former WBO

interim An interim is a period of temporary pause or change in a sequence of events, or a temporary state, and is often applied to transitional political entities. Interim may also refer to: Temporary organizational arrangements (general concept) *Provis ...

cruiserweight champion, as well as a two-time former IBO cruiserweight champion. Nicknamed "Kryptonite", Afolabi was known in the ring for his slickness, counterpunching skills and durability. Born to Nigerian parents, Afolabi resides in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where he also trained for the most of his career.

Career

Afolabi began his professional career in 2002, fighting at

super middleweight Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, super middleweight is contested between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, in which boxers can weigh between 160 pounds ( ...

and

light heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruise ...

. In 2003 he was outpointed by

Allan Green Allan Lamar Green (born September 20, 1979) is an American professional boxer. He is a former NABO super middleweight champion, and has challenged for world titles at both super middleweight and light heavyweight. Amateur career Green had a st ...

, prompting a full-time move to cruiserweight in 2004. He beat a small heavyweight clubfighter in Willie Chapman and added James Walton and Michael Simms to his victims. He also knocked out former Cruiserweight Champ

Orlin Norris Orlin Levance Norris (born October 4, 1965) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1986 to 2005. He held the WBA cruiserweight title from 1993 to 1995. As an amateur, he won the National Golden Gloves title. He is the brothe ...

. The win that put him into the limelight came over undefeated highly touted

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the Nation ...

champion

Eric Fields Eric Fields (born June 14, 1982) is an American professional boxer. He is from Ardmore, Oklahoma. Amateur career Fields started boxing in 2003 and became the 2005 and 2006 National Golden Gloves Heavyweight champion. In 2005 he beat Tony Grano ...

whom he KO'ed in 2008. He was immediately signed to a promotional contract with Duva Boxing. Afolabi subsequently made his national television debut on ESPN's Friday Night Fights, winning a unanimous decision over DeLeon Tinsley. In March 2009 he scored another upset KO by defeating former WBO World Cruiserweight champion

Enzo Maccarinelli Enzo Maccarinelli (born 20 August 1980) is a Welsh former professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2016. He held the WBO cruiserweight title from 2006 to 2008. At regional level, he held the European and British cruiserweight titles betwe ...

to win the Interim WBO cruiserweight title in Manchester, England. His good run ended when he lost a very close decision against

Marco Huck Muamer Hukić (born 11 November 1984), best known as Marco Huck, is a German professional boxer.. Retrieved 2015-12-01. He held the WBO cruiserweight title from 2009 to 2015, and is the joint-longest reigning cruiserweight world champion of al ...

in Germany. He rebounded with a first-round knockout over former European champion

Terry Dunstan Terry Dunstan (born 28 October 1968) is a British former boxer who was British and European cruiserweight champion and fought for the IBF world title. Career Born in Vauxhall, London in 1968, Dunstan initially excelled at basketball and repre ...

. After his 4th fight with Huck, a 10th round stoppage loss, Afolabi decided to call time and announced his retirement.

Afolabi vs Huck II

After defeating 2 journeymen, Afolabi got a rematch against Huck on 5 May 2012, for Huck's WBO Cruiserweight championship, which would be in Germany as in their first match. In their previous bout, it was a very close fight ending with Huck escaping with a razor-thin majority decision victory. However, in the rematch, it was even closer than the first bout, with a brutal 12 rounds in a great fight. Unfortunately for Afolabi, the fight ended in a split draw, and Huck retained his WBO belt.

Professional boxing record

, - , style="text-align:center;" colspan="8", 22 Wins (11 knockouts, 11 decisions), 6 Losses, 4 Draws , - style="text-align:center; background:#e3e3e3;" , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Result , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Record , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Opponent , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Type , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Rd., Time , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Date , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Location , style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Notes , - align=center , Loss , 22–6–4 , align=left,

Mario Daser Mario Daser (born 14 November 1988) is a German professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by c ...

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Rakhim Chakhkiyev Rakhim Ruslanovich Chakhkiev (russian: Рахим Русланович Чахкиев; born 11 January 1983) is a Russian former professional boxer who competed from 2009 to 2016.. Retrieved 2 October 2016. He held the IBO cruiserweight title ...

, , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Loss , 21–4–4 , align=left,

Victor Emilio Ramírez Victor Emilio Ramírez (born March 30, 1984) is an Argentine former professional boxer. He held the WBO cruiserweight title in 2009 and the IBF cruiserweight from 2015 to 2016. Ramírez announced his retirement in December 2016. He fought once a ...

, , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 21–3–4 , align=left, Anthony Caputo Smith , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 20–3–4 , align=left,

Łukasz Janik Łukasz Janik (born 17 December 1985, in Jelenia Gora) is a Polish Cruiserweight professional boxer. Career On 2 November 2013, Janik fought Ola Afolabi for the vacant IBO Cruiserweight title, but lost by majority decision. On 22 May 2015, ...

, , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Loss , 19–3–4 , align=left,

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Valery Brudov Valery Brudov (russian: Валерий Александрович Брудов; born November 27, 1976) in Pskov, Russia is a former professional boxer. He held the WBA interim world cruiserweight title from 2006 until 2007, and challenged twice ...

, , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 18–2–3 , align=left, Lukasz Rusiewicz , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 17–2–3 , align=left,

, , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 16–2–3 , align=left, Lubos Suda , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 15–2–3 , align=left, Sandro Siproshvili , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Loss , 14–2–3 , align=left,

, , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 14–1–3 , align=left,

, , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 13–1–3 , align=left, DeLeon Tinsley , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 12–1–3 , align=left,

, , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 11–1–3 , align=left,

, , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 10–1–3 , align=left, Michael Simms , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 9–1–3 , align=left, James Walton , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , style="background:#abcdef;", Draw , 8–1–3 , align=left, Jonathan Young , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 8–1–2 , align=left, Willie Chapman , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 7–1–2 , align=left, Carlos Raul Ibarra , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 6–1–2 , align=left, Man Semou Diouf , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 5–1–2 , align=left, Gustavo Arroyo , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 4–1–2 , align=left, Germain Thedford , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , style="background:#abcdef;", Draw , 3–1–2 , align=left, Anthony Russell , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 3–1–1 , align=left, Alejandro Rafael Virgen , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Loss , 2–1–1 , align=left,

, , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 2–0–1 , align=left, Joe Mendoza , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , Win , 1–0–1 , align=left, Tom Perea , , , , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , style="background:#abcdef;", Draw , 0–0–1 , align=left, Gerard Barber , , , , align=left, , align=left,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Afolabi, Ola 1980 births Living people Cruiserweight boxers English male boxers English people of Nigerian descent World cruiserweight boxing champions Boxers from Greater London