As a gangling 20 year old light middleweight, David Dejiro Defiagbon took his first step into the competitive headlights of championship boxing when representing his native Nigeria, he grabbed a gold at the 1990 commonwealth games in New Zealand. Two years later would appear in at the Olympic Games in Barcelona, unfortunately being eliminated in the early stages.. David was raised in relative poverty in the Delta state city of Sapele, and sought boxing as his escape to a better life.. Canadian National coach Taylor Gordon Met Defiagbon on a trip to Lagos, the young Nigerian begged that Gordon help him leave his oppressed country and move to Canada with the influential trainer. David threw himself onto his knees and grabbed Gordon’s feet with tears running down his face, begging for the life saving opportunity.. Gordon vowed to help Defiagbon, and later sent the plane fare to allow the fighter to begin his new life as a Canadian.. As David was about to board the flight, military police intervened and moved Defiagbon to a military jail, beating and torturing him whilst holding the young fighter for weeks.. Eventually David was released and took the long trip to Halifax Nova Scotia to begin his new life.. With very few belongings and no money to his name, David worked tirelessly to earn himself a place on the national team, being granted National status on the day he described as the happiest of his life.. David would appear in 1996 at the Atlanta Olympics as a solid fully developed heavyweight, grabbing a silver medal, beating Nate Jones and Christophe Mendy on the way to meeting Cuba’s Félix Savon in the final.. Later that year David would take another leap of faith, moving to Las Vegas to be part of Thell Torrence’s stable of promising professionals including fellow team mates, Montell Griffin, Duncan Dokiwari and Christophe Mendy, the man he’d beaten in the Olympics.. Turning pro as a Cruiserweight, David soon grew into a solid heavyweight, racking up a string of victories whilst enjoying life in his new adopted home town.. By 2000 Defiagbon was 11-0 and now promoted by Cedric Kushner, appearing on regular Heavyweight Explosion events, getting national tv exposure, beating respected names like Lou Monaco, Ramon Hayes, Harold Sconiers and Augustin Corpus. In 2004 David would pick up a WBA Fedecentro title by beating Ron Guerrero by knockout on a Star boxing show in Bermuda, taking his record to 21-0 with 12 knockouts.. This victory earned Defiagbon his first step up fight against tough New York based Russian Oleg Maskaev.. Defiagbon would suffer a 6th round knockdown in a tough fight losing for the first time by a split decision at the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City.. A year later aged 35 David would travel to Madenberg Germany to take on undefeated former world Cruiserweight champion Juan Carlos Gomez, the return to the ring following his first loss against such a formidable opponent wasn’t a wise one, Defiagbon suffered his first stoppage defeat in what would be his final ring appearance..
David was a fabulous talent who unfortunately carried too much emotional baggage to adapt to such a high profile successful life, he was kind and generous and lit up a room with his smile.. As an ex fighter David looked to have the idyllic life, Married to a beautiful wife Mandy, with a baby daughter to dote on, working shifts as security in designer stores in luxurious las Vegas resorts, David was respected and loved by all around him, he was a success story.. Unfortunately David’s marriage broke down and work became sporadic, David found himself lost in an adopted city without the purpose that brought him there.. I met David for the first time in 5 years last May, he was wandering around in the 6am sun in south Las Vegas, he looked tired and slightly unkempt. His teeth looked stained and his skin was tough, appearing as though he had been neglecting his health.. I gave David some money and we spoke for a while whilst waiting for the bus along Tropicana.. He told me he was returning to the hospital to pick up a jacket he’d left there the day before, after being admitted following a fall, he’d drank too much, in his own words.. This was an Olympic Silver medalist, I’d asked about his wife and daughter, David shook his head and explained in no uncertain terms why things failed, he blamed himself completely, ‘My dumb ass messed that up..’ I cheered him up with stories about better days, he smiled but appeared intermittently to stare out into space.. I hugged David before he exited the bus, heading to a gas station on Maryland Parkway, I watched him walk away, with a M&Ms plastic bag, old worn out Track pants and flip flops.. I regretted not spending more time with my friend.. On Tuesday I got the dreadful news that David had passed away, aged just 48.. He’d admitted himself to hospital with chest pains and later passed due to heart complications.. This story should have been much different, but unfortunately David crammed a lifetimes worth of struggle and adversity into those 48 years, he’d found the comfort of a successful life but sadly died with very little material worth to show for his achievements.. I won’t ever forget David Defiagbon, I just wish I could have done more..
