I'm aware Elisha Obed was a legit world champion and had an excellent resume before his slide down the ranks and I know someone who was affiliated with him at Dundee's gym in Miami who relayed he was a great talent at one time who is usually pretty sober about evaluating talent. That being said, the only footage I have ever been able to find of him is against Curtis Parker and he appears to have exactly zero technique and zero talent. Those who have seen this fight will know what I'm talking about- a human Gumby who literally has no punching power and no strength and just grabs and clutches Parker throughout. Those of you who are familliar with Obed, what am I missing?
I saw his fight with Ayub Kalule (2 years before Parker), and in that one he looked just as terrible as he did against Parker. No coordination, no ability... nothing! But with just one defeat in his first 65 bouts, he must have been a decent fighter at one point. Guess it started to go down hill after he lost his world title.
He was a good fighter until discovering wine and women. I remenber reading that in The Ring years ago. I think it was an article about the Fifth Street gym in Miami
I must plead ignorant to ever seeing him, but I recall him being one of the hottest prospects on the planet at the time. There was one point when they were claiming he was undefeated until some sharp-eyed writer discovered a photo of him knocked cold in '67, which they ran in the magazines. It didn't impede his progress and he wasn't confined to the Bahamas. He was fighting a lot for the Dundees in Miami and the Flores brothers in Arizona and beating some damn good competition. I believe there were wins over Bunny Grant, Paco Flores, Sugar Cliff, Sandy Torres Mike Lankaster and a draw with Dario Hidalgo. So he was really being exposed to a variety of talents. The fight where he won the title against the excellent Miguel DeOliviera was written up in the mags as a war, as was the bout where he lost the title to Dagge. After that he went downhill and I can only attribute it to being burned out after having turned pro at 15 and having a ton of fights up to then. Scartissue
