BOZA EDWARDS HELD IN HIGHEST REGARDS
San Francisco, CA– The 1980’s produced both great fighters and epic fights. One man who doesn’t get the credit he deserves because of the plethora of iconic names of that era is Cornelius “Boza” Edwards. Born May 27, 1956 in Kampala, Uganda, Cornelius was a lefty with a sculpted physique. “Boza” as he’s called by everyone except his kids, went 45-7-1, with 34 KOs after a stellar amateur stint.
POWERFUL MANAGER WOULD GET BIG FIGHTS
Boza turned pro after signing with the then most powerful man in English boxing, manager Mickey Duff. Considered beyond brilliant at the time, Duff put a 28-1 Boza in with the great Alexis Arguello in August 1980. For the many that expected the then 68-5 Arguello to wax the then resident of London, but it wasn’t to be. In fact Boza more than held his own, this before facial contusions and the flow of crimson led to a TKO 8 win for Arguello in a non-title dime.
WORLD TITLE FIGHT IN “FAT CITY”
Three fights later in March of 1981 Edwards was matched against WBC 130 lb. king Bazooka Limon in a place fictionally known as “Fat City.” AKA Stockton, CA, this emanating from a book penned by Leonard Gardner about the town’s legendary ring history. After 15 rounds, Limon was dethroned and Boza seemed on his way to great things.
MORRIS PRAGER WAS THINKING “BOZA-SALVADOR SANCHEZ”
The TKO 14 of the famed Chacon at the Showboat Hotel in Las Vegas, it was better than two feathers in the cap as Boza was on a hell of a run. Flunking out the “School Boy” and looking good in doing so put Bozo in a great spot. With Duff looking at a possible fight with ascending WBC 126 lb. champ Salvador Sanchez, the man born Morris Prager, who is himself in the Hall of Fame, Duff took Boza to Italy for what was thought to be a soft defense against Philippine puncher Rolando Naverette that aired I believe on NBC.
FILIPINO BANGER PRECURSOR TO PACQUIAO
Having been iced in three of eight losses against 38 wins, Naverette, a southpaw like current king Manny Pacquiao, Mickey thought Rolando would fold. But the Manila mauler came to fight and hurt Boza a few times early. Never a defensive wiz, Edwards was giving and catching until Rolando put a good-sized hurting on him and the fight was halted in the eighth.
WENT BACK TO HIS “PROFESSIONAL ROOTS”
Duff would put together three fights in the UK that resulted in as many whacks for Boza before bringing him across the pond to face the undefeated rage that was Johnny “The Heat” Verderosa. At 22-0, with 16 stops, “The Heat” from Staten Island, NY, who had just drilled Sean O’Grady, was supposed to burn Boza bad! But just like in Italy with Naverette, things don’t always go according to plan.
“THE HEAT” WAS SHUT OFF IN THREE!
With an American television audience watching, Boza came right out and went about taking Verderosa to the college of pugilism. “The Heat” was reduced to a pilot light. The end result was that the referee halted this Atlantic City, NJ bout with Boza an upset TKO 4 winner. The next three guys Boza faced and defeated in Robert “Squeaky” Elizondo (23-2), Blaine Dickson (17-4-1) and hot shot Pedro Laza (22-1) were all a bit better than average.
REMATCH WITH REBORN “SCHOOL BOY” CHACON
On May 15, 1983, Edwards entered a Las Vegas ring for Edwards-Chacon II. With a six fight win streak since the loss to Boza, Chacon a man who was more guts than brawn or brains, was hell bent on revenge. What would take place for 12 rounds wasn’t really boxing. Both Chacon and Boza fought as if they were standing in buckets of cement. After 36 minutes of sanctioned mayhem, I thought that referee Richard Steele and Dr. Flip Homansky, the pair erred in not stopping the fight and awarding Boza a TKO win because of the separated facial features of Chacon late.
FIGHT LOOKED WRESTLING MATCH WITH RAZORS
Boza Edwards would end up losing on points in a match Ring magazine dubbed “1983 Fight of The Year.” With the damage inflicted and endured by both, neither man was ever the same again. Afterward Boza would go to the post 11 times resulting in a 6-5-1 record before calling it after losing a WBC lightweight (135) title fight to Jose Luis Ramirez in October 1987.
BOZA WAS NEVER THE BOZO
Engage Boza Edwards in a conversation today and you’ll be surprised just how well versed the now 54-year old Las Vegas based trainer and father of two is. He can talk Iraq, politics, U.S. foreign policy, and has a camera like memory bank when it comes to boxing. A credit to boxing and people in general, Cornelius Boza Edwards was a rarity in that he got out at the right time.
Pedro Fernandez