The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

EVEN 40 years since Bahamian National Hall of Fame boxing legend Oswald ‘Elisha Obed’ Ferguson won the World Boxing Council’s junior middleweight championship, there is still a plea being made for him to get the proper recognition that he deserves.

On November 13, 1975 in Paris, France, Obed defeated Brazilian Miguel de Oliveira with an 11-round technical knockout to clinch the title, the first major international title won by a Bahamian.

But after successfully defending it twice with victories over Tony ‘TK’ Gardiner in Nassau on February 28, 1976, and to Sea Robinson in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, with a 10-round unanimous decision, Obed lost the title to Eckhard Dagge, of Germany, in Charlottenburg, Berlin, on June 18, 1976 when he got TKOed after 1 minute 47 seconds of the tenth round.

Bahamians from all walks of life lined the streets to show their pride and appreciation for the country’s first world boxing champion, joining a parade of many thousands from Nassau International Airport to Paradise Island, where the champion was feted in a national ceremony.

And on his 40-year celebration, Wellington Miller, president of the Bahamas Boxing Federation and the Bahamas Olympic Committee, said that “it is sad that Elisha Obed is not properly remembered by his nation”.

Miller noted that Elisha Obed lives in Highland Park in the vicinity of one of the new roads and the six-legged roundabout, which yet have no official names. He called for the road and the roundabout to be named in honour of Obed.

“I believe that by simply naming the road and roundabout in honour of Mr Obed would cause a great social discussion and recognition of his achievements 40 years ago,” said Miller, who has agitated for years for Obed to receive his just recognition.

“Taxi drivers and tour operators would be able to proudly recall this great Bahamian triumph to many thousands of visitors and guests. Friends, family and regular Bahamians, including students and teachers would have a tangible point of historical reference by which to remember Elisha Obed and his accomplishment.”

While Obed was inducted into the National Hall of Fame’s initial class in 1989 with track athlete Tommy Robinson, baseball pioneer Andre Rodgers and sailors Sir Durward Knowles and Cecil Cooke, he was also recently inducted into the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame.

But with the government recently naming the road that leads from Thompson Boulevard to the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium in honour of two-time NBA champion Mychal ‘Sweet Bells’ Thompson, Miller said he doesn’t see why such recognition is not bestowed on Obed.

“I encourage the government to recognise that the naming of the road and roundabout here in Nassau would be a worthy undertaking supported by the Bahamian people at large,” Miller said.