News & Views

Exonerated Man Makes Boxing Debut At Age 52

Dewey Bozella boxing debutSaturday, ageless boxer Bernard Hopkins was defeated in one of the most bizarre TKO's in recent memory.

Prior to this, an even older fighter, as compared to the 46-year-old Hopkins, made his professional debut on the undercard in Los Angeles.

52-year-old Dewey Bozella won a unanimous decision over Larry Hopkins (no relation to Bernard). In another oddity, Larry Hopkins lost points in the match's final round after spitting out his mouthpiece six times.

At the event's conclusion, Bozella announced his retirement from boxing.

Bozella spent 26 years in the New York prison system, becoming the lightweight boxing champion at infamous Sing Sing Prison. Two years ago, Bozella was exonerated of murder charges and began to dream about resuming his boxing career. 

His conviction was based upon the testimony of two career criminals who repeatedly changed their versions of the murder. There was no physical evidence linking Bozella to the crime and at his retrial, he was offered freedom if he would admit his guilt and he refused. 

Last July, Bozella was given the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPY Awards. Previous Ashe Award winners have included Pat Tillman, Muhammad Ali and Nelson Mandela.

 

 

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Bruce has traveled the world, both working for and covering a wide array of the sports world’s greatest events. Below is a sampling of the level of experience and perspective he brings to ifollosports.com.

OLYMPIC GAMES:  
Munich 1972, Montreal 1976, Los Angeles 1984, Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Salt Lake City 2002, Beijing 2008     
*Editor of the Official Report of the 1984 Olympic Games

PAN AMERICAN GAMES:   
Caracas 1983, Indianapolis 1987, Havana 1991, Mar del Plata 1995, Winnipeg 1999



WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES:   
Zagreb 1987, Duisberg 1989, Sheffield 1991, Buffalo 1993, Fukuoka 1995, Sicily 1997, Palma de Mallorca 1999 

USA TRACK AND FIELD:     
World Championships (Helsinki 1983), World Junior Championships (Athens 1986), World Cup (Rome 1981), World Cup (Havana 1992), Pan American Junior Championships (Barqisimeto 1982, Orlando 1986)  Editor of USATF annual calendar project (1980-1991) and Cross Country handbook (1979-1991) 

WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: 
World Baseball Classics in 2006 and 2009.

ASSOCIATED PRESS     
Correspondent covering the Los Angeles Lakers and UCLA Bruins basketball, track and field, and swimming 1977-1989
  

A California native, Bruce is a 
graduate of UCLA and resides in Venice Beach.

 

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