by James Slater: Somewhat lost in the shuffle at the weekend, what with so many big fights taking place on the same day, was the cruiserweight battle between the unbeaten Eric Fields and his come backing opponent, Ola Ofalabi. Fields, nicknamed “Danger,” was having his first fight since his sensational one round destruction of Kelvin “Concrete” Davis. His march towards a likely world title shot was derailed by the relatively unknown Ofalabi, however, as Fields was stopped in the 10th round in Tacoma, Washington on Saturday night..
This was quite an upset, and Fields, who looked like a future big name in the cruiserweight division, will likely be very distraught at the defeat. The 28 year old Ofalabi, with a good record of 12-1-3(5) was having his first fight in well over two years. Back in November of 2005, the London-born Ofalabi TKO’d former world champion Orlin Norris in 7 rounds, and then was absent from the ring until Saturday. Nicknamed “Mr Boxercise,” Ofalabi well and truly made his reappearance on the big stage by stopping the red hot 25 year old from Oklahoma.
Fields, in losing at 55 seconds of round number ten, lost his unbeaten record and fell to 11-1(9). “Danger” was growing tired in the 8th round and Ofalabi saw his opportunity – dropping his man twice with hurtful uppercuts. Fields made it into the 10th and final round, but was decked again – this time with an overhand right. Fields rose yet again, but was under major pressure and referee Bob Howard had no choice but to dive in and call a halt to the proceedings. With his shock win, Ofalabi picked up the vacant NABO cruiserweight strap.
It’s amazing how one fight can drastically alter the career of a young fighter. Before his demolition of “Concrete” Davis, many had perhaps not heard of Fields. With that stunning win, however, his life changed and the phone never stopped ringing. Now, with HIS win, the same thing will no doubt happen with Ofalabi. The fight also added to the growing perception that the 200 pound division is one of the brightest and most exciting at the moment.
Keep an eye out for the useful Ola Ofalabi, you will more than likely be seeing him in at least one big fight some time soon. Why he hasn’t been more active as of late really is something of a mystery – as good as he clearly seems to be.