The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The passing of Oswald 'Elisha Obed' Ferguson, the first and only Bahamian world boxing champion, has echoed the call for more prominent recognition to be given to the country's iconic athletes who have excelled at the top of their sporting disciplines but were never honoured in the manner that they should have been.

Elisha Obed, as he was commonly referred to, died on Thursday night at the age of 66. He began his amateur career at the age of 12 and went on to post an impressive 46-0 win-loss record with 16 knockouts before he turned pro two years later.

During the beginning of his impressive pro career, Elisha Obed went on to capture the World Boxing Council (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. Elisha Obed stated that he had been thumped in the eye by Dagge. Actually, he was later found to have a detached retina and is legally blind in that eye.

Obed then decided to enter the middleweight ranks and by age 27, he was back to where he started from, fighting on local fight cards in Nassau before he retired in 1988, avenging his previous loss to James 'Killer' Coakley.

The win also ended a four-match losing streak.

At the end of his career, Elisha Obed compiled a 90-21-4 win-loss-draw record with 60 knockouts. He was trained by Moe Fleischer and managed by Mike Dundee.

While he received a British Empire medal in the Queen's Honours list in 1988, Elisha Obed never got the recognition he deserved like having a prominent facility named in his honour.

Wellington Miller, a long time friend and former boxer who served as the immediate past president of both the Bahamas Olympic Committee and the Bahamas Amateur Boxing Federation, agitated for either a street or the national boxing gymnasium at the Baillou Hills Sporting Complex to be named after him, but to no avail.

As a childhood friend, legendary track and field sprinter Michael 'Mike' Sands said he remembers the days when they both sold The Tribune and the Nassau Guardian newspapers. But he said it was ironic that they both went on to achieve their international success in 1975. "I always referred to him as Ossie, even after he went on to win his world title as the greatest boxer the Bahamas has ever seen," Sands said. "I went on to have my pinnacle year when I won the gold medal at the Central American and Caribbean Games and a bronze at the Pan American Games.

"As years go by, we would always talk about how we went from newspaper boys to accomplishing a level of prominence and success in sports. I think in his passing, the country owes Ossie a great deal of gratitude because in 1975, the country was only two years old. So for him to put the Bahamas on the world stage in its infancy year, is just remarkable."

Sands, who was in Germany at the time of his long-time friend's death, sent his condolences to his two sons, his brother, famed photographer Franklyn Ferguson and the other members of his family.

As one of those who was considered an unsung hero, Sands, now a consultant at the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture since the inaugural IAAF World Relays came to the Bahamas in 2014, said he's still baffled that for winning a world boxing title that Elisha Obed was not recognised with a permanent figure while he was alive.

"I would also have to put some of the blame at the doorstep of the federations, not just boxing, but in this case we are talking about boxing, but I believe that the boxing federation or federations in general, when its athletes do something as significant as that, should be the first ones to agitate for something more tangible for that athlete.

"Once that is done, I believe the press should then be able to take it up and help the cause. But this one is baffling in my opinion because he's the only world champion and it's beyond understanding what or why it has not happened at this stage in his life. But I guess we will hear about something more significant in his death."

Current BOC president Romell Knowles said it's not only a sad day, but one that should give the country an opportunity to reflect on the achievements as an unsung hero. "One could argue that he was before his time when one appreciates the fact that the Bahamas has only been independent since 1973 and in 1975 he won the WBC world boxing title," Knowles said. "It was a remarkable feat, a major accomplishment, one that has never been repeated since.

"Yet, he was not appreciated at home, not recognised at home, not celebrated at home as he should. There's no edifice, no national edifice that recognises the feat of Elisha Obed. There's no street named after Elisha Obed, there's no recognition in the Hall of Fame of Elisha Obed. There's no recognition at the airport of one Elisha Obed. Under appreciated, not respected, not recognised, yet he was a world beater.

"As a matter of fact, when one accepts the fact that we became independent in 1973, he became the world champion in 1975 as our first international superstar in sports. The fact that he would have trained with the great Angelo Dundee and rubbed shoulders with the great Muhammad Ali, it saddens me that while he was celebrated in Miami Beach, Florida, there's no gym or recognition befitting a world champion, the first only in boxing, in the Bahamas."

Knowles, however, said he hopes that the powers that be will recognise him posthumously as a quiet, human and witty man.

"I pray that posthumously, we will get this right as a country, the Bahamas Government, the Bahamas Olympic Committee and the Bahamian people that we will correct the wrong that was done to Elisha Obed," he said. "I want to say to his family, thanks for lending him to us as we thank him for putting the Bahamas on the map on the global sporting stage at such a young age."

May his soul rest in peace.