Focus on: Former UBO world title-challenger Robert Osiobe

Former Universal Boxing Organization™ (UBO) world title-challenger Robert Osiobe from Nigeria was the epitome of a prizefighter.

Osiobe likely had unrecorded pro fights in Nigeria, but if we go by his boxrec ledger he only boxed outside his birth-country.

His first recorded fight was in Swaziland in March of 2000 against Kenyan Michael Muya (5-0), who went on to win Commonwealth and UBO Inter-Continental titles. Osiobe won on points.

He then beat Phakamile Mpobolo (1-4) in Lesotho, Johannes Oosthuizen (11-2) in Botswana, David Kiilu (7-1-1) in Kenya, and Edward Dlamini (12-8-1) and Colin Mutsila (7-5-1) in South Africa, before losing in March 2003, on points, to Anusorn Yotjan (10-0) in Thailand.

Later in 2003 he travelled to Denmark, where he scored a draw against prospect Jadgar Abdulla (7-0). In the rematch Osiobe was awarded a TKO injury victory, which was later overturned to a technical draw.

Staying in Denmark, Osiobe was matched against world-ranked former European Champion Spend Abazi (28-1) only two weeks later and again showed his qualities, but lost a split decision.

Three months on he drew with another Danish prospect, Martin Kristjansen (10-0), and despite not winning any of those four bouts in Denmark, he had made a name for himself in Scandinavia.

Unfortunately three years of inactivity followed before Osiobe returned with a draw against Swedish-based Ugandan Olympian Sam Rukundo (9-0). He then scored two routine victories, setting up a Rukundo rematch with the vacant UBO World Super Lightweight title on the line.

Rukundo was the better man in the second go-around, and won a deserved unanimous decision. Osiobe rebounded with three low-profile wins in Denmark, before relocating to Las Vegas in 2012.

During his USA-campaign he defeated excellent opponents Jose Hernandez (13-5-1) and Jose Roman (14-0-1), but also lost decisions to future world champions Evgeny Gradovich (11-0), Rances Barthelemy (15-0) and Jamael James (9-0).

Osiobe is one of those boxers who, had he had the right backing early on, he could have achieved much more. A very talented and tough competitor, he retired with a 14-10-4 (6) record in 2014.

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