By Eric Bottjer
ANTHONY NELLEMS, 52, Indiana welterweight, died in February. Nellems won one of six fights in 1993, fighting in five states as an “opponent.”
LEFOUMBOU NGOMA, 46, welterweight from Congo, died in July, after collapsing at a gym while training an amateur boxer. Ngoma was 9-2-1 (7 KOs) from 2005-2012. Ngoma won his last three pro bouts – by then, he was living in Hong Kong and known as “Bresson Brel.” A Hong Kong obituary claimed Ngoma was an 8-time African amateur champion and that he had qualified for the 2004 Olympics (research could not confirm either claim).
JAY NEWMAN, 68, longtime agent for Larry Holmes, passed in December after a long battle with cancer. Newman was a hedge fund manager and ran “Larry Holmes Enterprises” for years, and produced Muhammad and Me: The Larry Holmes Story, a documentary on Holmes’ life.
PAUL NICOLOSI, 91, Louisiana lightweight, died in November. Nicolosi lost his sole pro fight, a 4-round split decision in 1954 in New Orleans. Nicolosi, from Hammond, worked as a carpenter, boilermaker and deputy sheriff.
BRIAN NOLAN, 63, Canadian lightweight, died in August. Nolan was 2-2 as a pro (1 KO), fighting in Canada in 1985-1986. Nolan worked as a blackjack dealer at a Michigan casino.
OBISIA NWANKPA, 75, Nigerian super lightweight, passed In June. He was confirmed to a wheelchair and suffering from dementia at the time of his death. Nwankpa lost in the opening round of the 1972 Munich Olympics and compiled a 23-6 mark (16 KOs) from 1977-1991, losing his only world title challenge to WBC super-lightweight champion Saoul Mamby in 1981 in Lagos. Southpaw Nwankpa took a lead after six rounds, but Mamby floored him twice in the seventh and won at least six of the last eight rounds to pull out a close win. Nwankpa, nicknamed “Golden Gloves,” became a national amateur coach in retirement (coaching his country’s 2004 and 2008 Olympic squads) and his death was noted in his country’s national media.
GEORGIA O’CONNOR, 25, British amateur youth champion, died in May from cancer. O’Connor, who had three pro bouts (all decision wins) announced in January she had terminal cancer. O’Connor said he had been suffering immeasurable pain since October and asked repeatedly for blood tests, to no avail. Ten days before her death, she married her partner, who had quit his job to support her.
PAT O’CONNOR, 74, Minnesota light-heavyweight, died in a nursing home from effects of Parkinson’s and dementia. O’Connor won the national Golden Gloves in 1967 at age 16 as a welterweight and turned pro in 1968, going 40-6 (19 KOs). Close losses to Denny Moyer and a KO defeat to Andy Kendall killed any hopes of him breaking into the world ratings. Pat’s brother Dan told reporters his brother was known for his modesty and turned pro to satisfy the wishes of others. Pat himself was simply happy to win a national amateur title.
GABRIEL OLANREWAJU, 40, Nigerian light-heavyweight, died in March in Accra, Ghana after suffering a heart attack during a match. Olanrewaju collapsed in the third round of his fight with Jon Mbanugu and died later that night at a local hospital. Olanrewaju’s record was 13-9-1 (21 KOs).
ALEJANDRA MARINA OLIVARES, 47, multiple world title holder from Argentina, died in July from a stroke. Olivares was 33-3-2 (16 KOs) from 2005-2017, winning WBC, WBA and WBO belts in four weight classes. Olivares was well known in Argentina for advocating for women’s equality and sports and was recently elected in her hometown of Santa Fe to help write a new constitution for that area.
BRIAN O’MELIA, 79, New Jersey referee and former heavyweight pro, died in December. O’Melia was 16-32-2 (6 KOs) from 1970-1980, losing decisions to Scott LeDoux, Johnny Boudreaux, Lorenzo Zanon and Dino Denis. O’Melia was a referee from 1985-2013. He worked in Jersey City as a special education instructor.
GUSTAVO OROPEZA, 68, Texas middleweight, passed in August. Oropeza had six pro fights scattered from 1977-1983, going 3-2-1 (3 KOs). This was after a career of some 200 amateur fights. Oropeza worked as a pipe fitter and cab driver after boxing.
MARSHALL PARMALEE, 81, New Jersey heavyweight, died in May in his native North Carolina. Parmalee had five fights at Embassy Hall in N. Bergen from 1970-1972, quitting after losing his first match. He worked as a truck driver, routinely making roundtrips from the East Coast to the Midwest.
MIKE PARRAZ, 67, Ohio featherweight, died in August at a Northwest Ohio hospice facility. Parraz, from Toledo, was 3-5 (3 KOs) from 1982-1986, retiring after a one-round loss to future belt-holder Tracy Patterson. Parraz grew up poor and worked as a field laborer and garbageman.
RENATO PASCALE, 60, Swiss light-heavyweight, died in March after a long illness. Pascale had been doing poorly the last 10 years of his life, according to an older brother. Pascale won the Swiss national amateur title in 1993 at light-heavyweight and turned pro in December that year. He went 8-6 (3 KOs) in a three-year career, never advancing into 10-rounders.
PAUL PATIN, 86, Texas middleweight, died in September. Patin, from Beaumont, was 40-11-1 (13 KOs) from 1960-1972, losing his one shot at the state light-heavyweight title just before retiring. Patin boxed while in the Army, serving during the Korean War. He ran a fried-chicken eatery in Vinton after he quit boxing and served Vinton as a school board member and city official/
JIM PATZKE, 78, Oregon heavyweight, died in August after a long illness. Patze, a Vietnam vet, had five pro fights while living in Anchorage in 1973-1974, but retired from boxing after returning to Southern Oregon and becoming a logger.
GORDIE PAULL, 84, Canadian middleweight, died in October. Paull was 2-2 in the early 1960s,
JONATHAN PENALOSA, 57, Filipino super-flyweight, died in April of colon cancer at a Southern California hospital. The brother of Gerry and Dodie Boy Penalosa, Jonathan went 15-4-1 (7 KOs) from 1985-1993. Penalosa was unbeaten in 16 fights when he challenged WBA champion Yong Kang Kim in South Korea. Kim won in 6 rounds. Penalosa lost his next three fights and retired. Penalosa spent years in the Manny Pacquiao camp as an assistant trainer.
CESAR OSCAR PEREZ, 66, Argentinian welterweight, died in December. Perez was 11-10-5 (4 KOs) from 1981-1991, his one notable fight a first-round KO defeat to a young, unbeaten Jorge Castro in 1988.
WILLIE PERRY, 66, Illinois middleweight, died in May at a local hospital. Perry was a solid journeyman from 1983-1994, going 5-16 (2 KOs), with just six stoppage losses. He went 10 rounds with contender Harold Brazier and lasted six rounds with murderous puncher Antwun Echols. In retirement, Perry was a preacher.
EARL PILGRIM, 85, Canadian cruiserweight, died in July. Pilgrim was 1-5, his sole win a respectable sixth-round KO over Cecil Gray (9-9) in Pilgrim’s second pro match. Three of Pilgrim’s six bouts on his official record were scheduled for 10 rounds, so it’s possible he had more pro fights that have been lost to time. He turned pro in June 1966 and lost his last fight in April 1968. After boxing, Pilgrim worked in Newfoundland as a forest ranger and found fame late in life, authoring 15 books during his last 30 years. His death was noted by CBC News and various Canadian media outlets.
JOHNNY POWELL, 89, Louisiana welterweight, died in November. Powell was 4-15 (1 KO) from 1955-1966. All of his bouts took place on the undercards of Louisiana club events. Powell trained amateur boxers at a New Orleans gym for many years.
DWIGHT MUHAMMAD QAWI, 72, former world light-heavyweight champion from Camden, New Jersey, passed in July after a five-year battle with dementia. Born Dwight Braxton in Baltimore, Dwight grew up in Camden, a rough area where it was easy to find trouble. Dwight found it and spent five years in Rahway prison for armed robbery. He learned to box in prison and, upon his release at age 25, turned pro. He was 1-1-1 initially and back in court soon enough, for assault and battery. A sympathetic judge gave Qawi another chance and Dwight dedicated himself to boxing from then on. He took Matthew Saad Muhammad’s title from him in 1981, beat him in a rematch and had two more successful defenses before losing a title unification to Michael Spinks. Despite his height (5-foot-7), Qawi opted to move to cruiserweight, winning a title in 1985 and losing it one year later in an epic war with Evander Holyfield. A KO loss in a rematch with Holyfield ended Qawi’s time at the top (he nearly regained a cruiser title in 1989, dropping a close decision to Robert Daniels). Qawi fought until age 46, retiring in 1998 with a 41-11-1 mark (25 KOs), including a 7th-round loss to a come-backing George Foreman in 1988. Qawi spent his later years working at a home for recovering addicts in Mays Landing.
