Posted on: Friday, January 18, 2002

FERD LEWIS
Bobo was prime of his time

By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Columnist

As a determined 16 year old, Carl Elmer "Bobo" Olson went to great lengths to mislead boxing officials about his age.

He dyed his hair, got tattoos on his arms and bought fake identification, all in attempts to appear 18, the legal age to fight professionally.

But in the ring, even at a young age, there was no disguising the already commanding skill level of someone who would become the greatest boxer Hawai'i has produced.

Eventually, officials in both Hawai'i and California caught on after a few fights, barring him from the ring until his 18th birthday, but barely slowing down what would become a world championship and Hall of Fame boxing career.

Olson died at age 73 Wednesday after a long bout with Alzheimer's disease and pugilistic dementia from a career that spanned 1944-'66 and saw him go 99-16-2 with 49 knockouts.

His first "legal" bout came the week after his 18th birthday, by which time he was already 13-0 with 11 knockouts.

"Pound for pound, he was the greatest we've had," said Bobby Lee, long-time member of the Hawai'i State Boxing Commission. "What a lot of people don't remember about him is that he was a great boxer. He'd wear you down, then knock you out."

Of Portuguese-Swedish ancestry, Olson began sparring with professional boxers at the CYO Gym on Fort Street during World War II. The sessions whetted an appetite for boxing that would take him from Gulick Ave. and the streets of Kalihi to rings around the world with bouts in New York, Rome, Sydney, Manila and a dozen other locales.

He won the world middleweight title before 18,869 in Madison Square Garden in 1953 and successfully defended it for two years during the heyday of boxing. In those days there was only one world championship for each division and the middleweight crown was among the most competitive.

Along the way, Olson fought a Who's Who, including Sugar Ray Robinson, Kid Gavilan and Joey Maxim, all three of them Hall of Famers. Olson beat both Gavilan and Maxim but Robinson was one of the few career-long challenges Olson never solved, losing in all four of their fights, three of them title bouts.

In Hawai'i, where he fought only periodically, his exploits grew to legend. "Bobo Olson was the greatest fighter to come out of Hawai'i," said Gov. Ben Cayetano. "He was a fine champion during an era filled with some of the greatest boxers of all time and he fought them all. During his career, he carried himself as a true champion. He never bragged. He respected his opponents and let his skills do his talking for him. All Hawai'i is proud of him."

Going on a half-century after he became Hawai'i's first world champion, Olson's name and deeds still pack a punch.