REMEMBERING MIKE BAMIDELE, FORGOTTEN NIGERIAN UNDEFEATED WORLD CHAMPION
Born in 1945 at Ipetu Ijesha, Osun State, he attended St. Mary’s Primary School, Ipetu Ijesha. He was forced to leave the school in standard four owing to financial problems and the sudden death of his father.
Mike Bamidele
As a young boy, he took delightful interest in street wrestling and to keep the banner of his family flying, he wrestled with many of his contemporaries round the town clearly distinguishing himself as a terror in the localities before he moved down to Lagos at the age of 19.
Bamidele never started in Lagos as a wrestler; rather he was selling electrical parts at Lewis Street. He had interest in boxing and left his shop several times to watch boxers. In 1962, he signed up as a boxer when he enrolled at the Broadway Boxing Club at Lewis Street, Lagos under the guardianship of Howard Jones, trainer Speedy Twitch, Lawson Moon, a former middleweight champion of Nigeria boxer who turned promoter Bonny Ade. He finally sealed up his shop in to enable him have full attention to purse his sporting career.
He followed the sport steadily until 1964 when he decided to change to wrestling – a game he loved very well because of all the gymnastics and acrobatic displays involved. For instance he watched the first world light heavyweight wrestling title fight staged in Nigeria between the former champion Khalil Abu Khalil – the Seven Up man from Lebanon and contender Apinosse of Greece.
Inspired by the performance of the Abu Khalil, Bamidele followed the great wrestler to Beirut on July 10, 1964 and started active amateur wrestling training in the same year. He showed remarkable talent in mastering all the technicalities of the sport of his choice and within four years of his sojourn in Beirut where he fought many amateur and international contests, Bamidele has become a force to be reckoned with in the world of Professional Wrestling.
In a career ranging from Spain, France, Belgium, Cardiff, Valencia, Pakistan, Australia etc, Mike courageously sought and fought his way to stardom successfully.
Some of Michael Bamidele’s victims in his over 500 professional wrestling fights were Ray McGuine who was kayoed in 1967 the same year Jon Contex of Mexico fell by the knock out route. Steve Grey was knocked out in 1968 in France. His record further shows that he fought more than 300 times in the middleweight class before switching to the light heavyweight category where he became a world champion.
Mike Bamidele died on the 27th December, 1989 in his residence in London of heart attack, The history of the pro wrestling stars in Nigeria and Africa will be an uncompleted story without putting into considerations and its proper place the immense contributions and the exploits of Mike Bamidele as the first indigenous Amateur coach in Nigeria as well as the first pro wrestling coach who took some selected Nigerian wrestlers round the nation to introduce the game in 1979.
In commemoration of his the 10th year remembrance anniversary, on January 29, 2000, a statue was unveiled in his hometown, Ipetu-Ijesa on his behalf where little or nothing is known about him on the sincere exploits he made in his active days as an undefeated world champion.
Statue of an Undefeated World Light Heavyweight Champion
Unfortunately, this statue is the only form of immortalization for Mike. He was one of the many Nigeria’s Unsung Heroes.
