By Keith Idec
This past Friday in Montreal, a ten round unanimous decision loss to former WBC light heavyweight champ Adrian Diaconu finally convinced a less-stubborn Omar Sheika to utter those painful words those closest to him have longed to hear for years. After a career full of brutal brawls, trips to emergency rooms and attempts to rebuild his reputation as a credible contender, Sheika has had enough.
The Woodland Park resident plans to retire with a 30-10 record, a little more money than most fighters walk away with and a lot of regrets about what could’ve been.
He’ll leave boxing without that elusive world title, too, but if the former New Jersey Golden Gloves champion indeed fought for the last time Friday night, he went out in typical Sheika style. He spent 10 rounds winging wild shots, walking face-first through more power punches than any human being should withstand and gave even a pro-Diaconu crowd of 11,682 every reason to stand and give him his respect after the final bell sounded.
"I think that’s it for me," Sheika, 33, said. "It’s sad to say. I didn’t want to end it like this, but this was my opportunity to get back on track. Beating a guy like this would’ve put me [back in position to fight] for a world title. I can’t start from scratch anymore. I don’t have it in me no more to do that. I’ll always have fighting in me. I love it, but I just can’t [continue fighting]."
