Afolabi back with a vengence!

April 22, 2008

By Lee Bates

Photo: Lee Bates

When cruiserweight Ola Afolabi (12-1-3, 5 KOs) defeated former cruiserweight world champion Orlin Norris in November of 2005 in Norris' hometown of San Diego, CA, it seemed the sky was the limit for the then 25-year-old prospect. Little would he know at the time that he would not fight again for nearly two and half years.

Generally when there is such a gap in between fights it's assumed the fighter has gotten into some sort of trouble outside of the ring, but this was not case at all for Afolabi. Plain and simple he could not get a fight. Afolabi went as far as making himself available to fight at heavyweight and on short notice but still could not get a fight. "I seriously contemplated just retiring," stated Afolabli obviously frustrated at the time.

Afolabi's fortune took a turn for the good when he finally returned to the ring on April 12th and upset highly touted prospect Eric Fields for the vacant NABO cruiserweight title. Afolabi dropped Fields in the eighth round and tenth round with brutual shots before the fight was mercifully stopped in the tenth and final round. Fields had imressively knocked out former cruiserweight champion Kelvin Davis in front of a live national audience on ESPN2 Friday night fights in his previous bout.

Fightnews caught up with Afolabi at boxing trainer Justin Fortune's Gym in Hollywood, California, where Afolabi trains and works as a personal trainer as well. Afolabi spoke on his long layoff, His bout with Fields, and his immediate goal.

Congratulations on a very big upset victory Ola.

Thank you very much. It's been a long time coming. I'm very happy right now.

After such a long layoff, how worried were you going into a fight against such a tough opponent?

I obviously was brought in as the opponent and more than likely would not have gotten this opportunity had I not been inactive for so long. I had to lose nearly 30 pounds to make the cruiserweight limit for this fight and I actually came in two pounds under the weight limit at 198 and a pound less than Fields. The mistake that Fields' team made in taking this fight is that they gave me five weeks to get into shape. With five weeks to prepare myself I'm going to give anyone problems.

Did you see his previous fight with Kelvin Davis?

I did see that fight. It was only 55 seconds but I got as much from it as I could. I wasn't impressed by it because I've sparred with Kelvin Davis in the past when he was in his prime and handled him. Fields is a very strong fighter and I rolled with a lot of his punches and made sure I didn't get caught. Fields did a lot of trash talking during the fight but I've sparred plenty of times with James Toney and no one can out trashtalk James Toney. With that being said I just went out and did what I had to do.

I remember talking to you off record in the past and you had told me you were thinking about retiring. How serious were you about doing that?

I was very serious. It's like a car salesman who hasn't sold a car in a couple of years. It's like what's the point in continuing if nothing is going to happen, but that's the past. I've got a major regional title now and with that usually comes a good ranking and bigger fights. My managers Victor Martinez and Pedro Rosado stuck with me while I couldn't get fights and kept me optimistic and I know with this latest victory they will make things really happen for me now. So I'm really excited right now.

Where are you originally from?

I was born in England but my parents are from Nigeria.

Will you represnt England or Nigeria during your career?

Both. I display both countries colors on my trunks.

I also understand that you are starting up your own clothing line.

That's correct. It will be launched shortly. The product I'm marketing is 100% all organic T-shirts.

You have good height at 6 foot 3. Could you fight at heavyweight?

I could easily fight at heavyweight and be successful. I've done well in sparring with much bigger heavyweights during my inactive time.

So what's your immediate goal?

My immediate goal is activity. An active and prepared Ola Afolabi is going to give anyone problems whether it's at cruiserweight or heavyweight.