The Tribune

HAPPY belated birthday to Bahamian middleweight champion Everette ‘Elisha Obed’ Ferguson.

On Sunday, the Bahamas’ first world boxing champion celebrated his 64th birthday at his sister’s home in Pinewood Gardens.

Bahamas Olympic Committee president Wellington Miller, a close friend of Obed, was in attendance. He said Elisha Obed was “looking good” and he was able to have a very good conversation with him about life in general.

Miller, a long-time close friend, said he is still lobbying for government to give Obed his just recognition for his accomplishment.

After he began his amateur career at the age of 12, Obed went on to post an impressive 46-0 win-loss record with 16 knockouts before he turned pro two years later.

After enjoying an impressive pro career, Obed went on to capture the WBC light middleweight title in 1975 by defeating Miguel de Oliveira. He defended the title twice before losing the belt to Germany’s Eckhard Dagge in 1976 when he quit, claiming he had blurred vision. Obed stated that he had been thumped in the eye by Dagge. In actuality, he was later found to have a detached retina and is legally blind in that eye.

Obed decided to enter the middleweight ranks. By 27, he was back to where he started from, fighting on local fight cards in Nassau. He retired in 1988.

This year, Obed was named in the Queen’s Honours list as a recipient of the British Empire Medal.

But Miller said it’s time that the government does a little more to recognise his accomplishment and honour Obed by either naming a street or even the National Boxing Gymnasium after him.