By Ben Jacobs
Next Thursday’s Prizefighter at East London’s York Hall marks the return of Larry Olubamiwo to a boxing ring.
The heavyweight was banned for four years by UK Anti-Doping in June 2012 although subsequently had his ban reduced.
Larry admitted to being somewhat disillusioned with the sport during his absence and even considered his future, yet he’s now excited to be back.
“Some people know I do a bit of acting and I haven’t been able to pursue that 100%,” he told BoxingScene.
“While I was out of the ring I definitely considered pursuing that full time, but I always had a few people telling me not to give up on boxing because I’ve got a lot to offer.
“I had a voice my head saying ‘you can still do this’. So while that hunger still burns I thought I might as well stay in the sport and see what else I can offer.”
Olubamiwo is a keen boxing observer as well as a competitor and has kept a close eye on the domestic heavyweight scene which he hopes to re-enter, providing he wins Prizefighter.
“It’s wide open. David Price is British and Commonwealth champion, Richard Towers just got stopped. There’s Ian Lewison and Sam Sexton, myself. There’s Anthony Joshua, Gary Cornish. It’s quite wide open.
“There’s even the old school guys like Michael Sprott, Matt Skelton and Martin Rogan. It’s an interesting mix. The top two guys Haye and Fury will duke it out. Even if Fury loses I still think he’s a credible world contender. If he loses to Haye he’s losing to one of the best in the world, there’s no shame in that. Apart from those two it’s all very competitive and wide open.”
Following Olubamiwo’s ban, he gave interviews where he stated his belief that performance-enhancing drugs were widespread in British boxing, perhaps a lot more than the general public realised. Is Larry still of the same opinion?
“I couldn’t tell you if it’s as widespread. I know it still goes on,” said Larry.
“I don’t really mix with many fighters at the moment. I’m just concentrating on what I have to do. If I had to guess I’d say it was still widespread, I couldn’t say for sure like I did when I tested positive. I mixed with a lot of fighters and I knew what was going on. But I think I’ve been vindicated a lot by the amount of positive tests in sport in general.
“There’s the case with JADCO [Jamaican Anti-Doping Commission], where they’ve been lying to WADA [World Anti-Doping Agency] about the amount of tests they’ve been doing. It goes back to what I’ve been saying all along. There’s speculation that Jamaica might be banned from the next Olympics. No way! There’s too much money involved, so that’s not gonna happen at all.”
