He was born in Creek Town Calabar as Okon Asuquo in 1937. At 12, the boy relocated to Lagos and it did not take long for his real name to be eclipsed. As an amateur boxer in 1952, the name Hogan ‘Kid’ Bassey stuck. Boxing in the beginning was the sport of boys in juvenile homes, most of them lived on Lagos Island and belonged to the Green Triangle Hostel, set up by Rev. Don Faulkner, around the Kakawa area.
Soon pugilism became a huge attraction bringing out other clubs. There were Paramount on Broad Street, powered by Napoleon Peregrino, Broadway in Idumota, managed by N.A. Taiwo, Railway and the boxing arm of Zik Athletic Club[ZAC]. Lafiaji Boys and Girls club gained prominence later, producing fine athletes like Alao Aka -Bashorun, Ben Enahoro, Violet Odogwu[Nwajei] and Olu Oguntokun who later became Nigeria’s first International boxing referee, in 1964.
There was something about the young boxers. The pet name ‘Kid’ became alluring. Asuquo became Hogan Kid Bassey. there was Kid Richards. Also among the Kids were Kid Ilori, whose other siblings, Fred and Rose were equally good fighters. Demola Ali became ‘Young Ali Kid’, Bola Lawal chose ‘Lulu Kid’. Someone went for ‘Kid Lawal’.
The Kids fought themselves as amateurs. Kid Bassey, a featherweight, was unbeaten in that division and decided to do catch weight by fighting bigger boxers. In one of the fights, he floored Lulu Kid. Hogan Bassey was nicknamed ‘Killer’ by ace commentator, Bonar Ekanem because of his killer punches. The boxer turned professional in 1954.
Young Ali Kid was forced to abandon boxing by his father. It was a story that made victory turn sour. He had defeated Kid Lawal and was carried shoulder high from Campos Square to Kakawa. The old man could not believe that his boy had abandoned homework for boxing. The winner was beaten black and blue at home forcing him to run to his maternal home around Tinubu. It was during that exile that he changed to ping pong, winning national titles.
There were other fighters who did not fancy the Kid fad. Speedy Twitch, Dick Turpin and Rafiu King went for different names and like Kid Bassey, they also relocated to the United Kingdom to sharpen their skills. Bassey had 14 fights in Nigeria before the trip to Liverpool in 1952. It did not take him long to become Featherweight champion. He beat Billy ‘Spider’ Kelly to wear the British crown.
With eyes on a higher podium, Bassey, changed base to the United States. Luck smiled so easily. The world champion, Sandy Saddler, was forced to drop his title following a car crash. On June 24, 1957, the world title fight was between the Nigerian and Cherif Hermia, a French Algerian. Venue was Paris. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe was there to support his country man. It was a great day. Kid Bassey became world champion after stopping the home boy. Zik was not only an amateur boxer, he was a referee and owned a boxing club in Lagos.
Kid Bassey became the second African to win a global boxing title. The pioneer was Louis Fall of Senegal who fought as ‘Battling Siki’ to stop Georges Carpentier in the United States in a heavyweight title fight in 1922.As an amateur, Zik was also known as ‘Battling Ziki’. For winning the world title, Bassey was honoured by the colonial government with the Member of the Order of the British Empire[MBE].
The world champion lost the title in February 1959 to Davey Moore. Five months later, there was a rematch. He lost again. That was the end of his career as a prize fighter. A year later, Bassey became a coach. As national boxing coach, he trained many Olympic medalists, from Nojeem Maiyegun in 1964 to Isaac Ikhuoria[1972] and Peter Konyegwachie[1984]. After a dry outing in 1988, it was time to retire.
One thing Bassey never did, was to allow any of his children wear boxing gloves. It was that bad that anytime he found them watching it on television, the legendary boxer switched it off and ordered them to their rooms to read. Reason was that boxing did a lot of harm to his body and it was not going to be the lot of his children. All listened to Dad and stayed away.
I met him shortly before he announced his retirement. The Nigerian contingent had come back from the Seoul ’88 Olympic Games empty handed. For a team that won silver in boxing four years earlier at Los Angeles ’84, many expected, at least, a gold medal in boxing. Till date,that has not been achieved. It sounds like since Hogan Bassey died in Lagos 20 years ago, boxing has been in coma.
Okon Asuquo fought till the end. According to him, the last bout was for Christ, trying to win souls. Bassey, the Kid who became a King, was an Elder of the Christ Army Church, Ajegunle, Lagos. His tomb lies inside the National Stadium. Lagos.
