John Wesley "Wes" Nofire (born April 30, 1986) is a

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

-American politician and a former heavyweight professional boxer. During his boxing career Nofire fought under the name "The Cherokee Warrior". Nofire currently serves on the

Cherokee Nation The Cherokee Nation (Cherokee: ᏣᎳᎩᎯ ᎠᏰᎵ ''Tsalagihi Ayeli'' or ᏣᎳᎩᏰᎵ ''Tsalagiyehli''), also known as the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, is the largest of three Cherokee federally recognized tribes in the United States. It ...

tribal council and was a candidate in the

2022 United States House of Representatives elections The 2022 United States House of Representatives elections were held on November 8, 2022, as part of the 2022 United States elections during incumbent president Joe Biden's term. The elections were held to elect representatives from all 435 U ...

for Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district.

Early life

John Wesley Nofire was born on April 30, 1986 at W.W. Hastings Hospital in Tahlequah, Oklahoma on the

Reservation to Sherman and Annette Nofire. Nofire grew up in the Welling area, and attended High school at Sequoyah High School in Tahleuqah. Sequoyah High School is an all Native American High School operated by the Cherokee Nation and is funded by

Bureau of Indian Education The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE), headquartered in the Main Interior Building in Washington, D.C., and formerly known as the Office of Indian Education Programs (OIEP), is a division of the U.S. Department of the Interior under the Assistant S ...

. Nofire was on the 2004 State Champion

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team for Sequoyah.

Boxing career

Nofire, began boxing in 2007 as a way to stay physically fit. As an amateur, Nofire was named Oklahoma State Champion in the Super Heavyweight Division and went on to participate in the 2010 National Golden Gloves boxing tournament as the Kansas-Oklahoma regional representative. In 2011, Nofire moved to

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

where he met John David Jackson, a former two-time world champion. Jackson liked the natural speed and ability that Nofire brought to e encourage him to get in the ring. Nofire made his heavyweight debut on August 26, 2011 at The Joint's Xtreme Fight Night at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tulsa. Nofire challenged MMA Fighter Marc Webb. Nofire knocked out Webb a uppercut to the chin 1 miniute and 22 seconds into the first round of the match. In his second career match up Nofire would defeat David Fuller in under 41 seconds

Nofire Entrainment

In 2013, Nofire began Nofire Entertainment Corporation, a fight promoting entertainment company. Nofire Entainments first event was the "Cherokee Fight Club" in 2013, a ten fight event hosted at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

Retirement from boxing

Nofire's last career fight was against Gerald Washington. Their match was on a Sunday edition of

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on June 10, 2018. 32 year old Nofire (20-1, 16 KOs) entered the matching with his only loss came to veteran journeyman

Joey Abell Joey Abell (born May 16, 1981) is an American professional boxer. Personal life Abell is a native of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He attended Champlin Park High School, and later played football at South Dakota State University, where he majored in E ...

in 2016. The fight took place at the Pioneer Event Center in Lancaster, California. The 10-round bout was mostly back and forth. Washington started off fast, landing big shots and applying pressure on Nofire. In round 3, Nofire landed some hard shots on Washington, however he recovered and took over, landing his own big shots. Nofire slowed down after landing his big shots. Washington remained in control for most of the fight. The three judges scored the bout 98–91, 97–92, and 97–92 in favor of Washington, giving him the much needed win and snapping Washington's 2-fight losing streak.

2019 Cherokee Nation Tribal Council Election

In December 2018, Nofire announced his intention for run for Cherokee Nation Tribal Council in District 3 seat, being vacated by David Walkingstick, who was running for Principal Chief. The Cheorkee Nation Tribal Council is a seventeen member unicameral legislature of the tribal government. Nofire topped a field of seven candidates in the General Election that occurred on June 1, 2019 advancing himself to the July Runoff. Nofire winning 29.47% of the votes, advanced to face off Cherokee County

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Chair, Debra Proctor (29.09% of the Vote) in a July 27 run off. The runoff election was largely seen a proxy fight between the Hoskin/Warner faction and the Walkingstick/Frailey faction from

2019 Cherokee Nation principal chief election The 2019 Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma principal chief election was held on Saturday, June 1, 2019. Former Cherokee Nation Secretary of State Chuck Hoskin Jr. defeated Tribal Councilman Dick Lay in the election. A third candidate, Tribal Council ...

. Proctor was largely being supported by the Hoskin/Warner faction and Nofire being supported by the Walkingstick/Frailey faction. Nofire received endorsement from Incumbent David Walkingstick and former Cherokee Nation Principal

Chad Smith Chad Gaylord Smith (born October 25, 1961) is an American musician who has been the drummer of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers since 1988. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012. Smith is also the drummer of the h ...

. On Election Day, Nofire overcame Proctor winning 63.75% of the vote.

2022 congressional campaign

Nofire ran for Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district in

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. He was one of sixteen candidates for the seat in the Republican primary. During the campaign, Nofire was criticized by fellow Tribal Councilor Candessa Tehee for calling the ''

McGirt v. Oklahoma ''McGirt v. Oklahoma'', 591 U.S. ___ (2020), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case which ruled that, as pertaining to the Major Crimes Act, much of the eastern portion of the state of Oklahoma remains as Native American lands of the pr ...

'' decision "the biggest threat to Oklahomans” at a Bartlesville campaign stop. She described his statements as "border ngon being treasonous and traitorous to Cherokee Nation.” He placed seventh and failed to qualify for the runoff.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nofire, Wes 1986 births American athlete-politicians American male boxers Boxers from Oklahoma Candidates in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections Cherokee Nation politicians Cherokee Nation sportspeople Living people Oklahoma Republicans People from Tahlequah, Oklahoma American men's basketball players