In Africa's Honor: Dick Tiger Versus Gene Fullmer Iii—A Blast from Nigeria’S Glorious Past

By Justina Ihetu

In the era of the American Civil Rights Movement, and barely three years after Africas most populous nation celebrated her independence from colonial rule, the Nigerian government brought her full weight to bear in a world championship title boutthe first ever in Black Africa. The Dick Tiger vs. Gene Fullmer III fight, held in Liberty Stadium in Ibadan, Nigeria, on August 10, 1963, was a forerunner for all the big fights in the African continent. Westerners didnt believe that a newly independent African nation could dare muster the audacity, or financial backbone, to stage a world championship event.

In Africas Honor chronicles this groundbreaking fight while narrating the details of Richard (Dick Tiger) Ihetus life in and out of the boxing ring. Presented as a play by Justina Ihetu, Dick Tigers daughter, and complete with archival photos, this drama showcases the patriotism and heroism of a boxer who had an inauspicious beginning.

Ihetu provides insight into the wheeling and dealing behind the match, and she humanizes the principle playerslaying bare their innermost thoughts and anxieties to help form a deeper understanding of the character, and circumstances that reveal Africas promise, of unity, dignity, and honor.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Mar 26, 2012
• ISBN: 9781469777641

Justina Ihetu

Justina Ihetu is Dick Tiger’s daughter. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English literature from Belmont University, Nashville, Tennessee and a Masters degree in Reading, from Brooklyn College, New York. She is currently a reading specialist and has worked in the school system for more than two decades. Justina also oversees the Dick Tiger Foundation Inc., a charitable organization instituted to promote Dick Tiger’s legacy of altruism and self-development. She lives in New York with her two children, Alexis and Daniel.

Book preview

IN AFRICA’S

HONOR

DICK TIGER VERSUS GENE FULLMER III—

A BLAST FROM NIGERIA’S GLORIOUS PAST

JUSTINA IHETU

iUniverse, Inc.

Bloomington

IN AFRICA’S HONOR

DICK TIGER VERSUS GENE FULLMER III—

A BLAST FROM NIGERIA’S GLORIOUS PAST

Copyright © 2012 Justina Ihetu

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

ISBN: 978-1-4697-7764-1 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4697-7762-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4697-7763-4 (hc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012903052

iUniverse rev. date: 3/20/2012

Contents

INTRODUCTION

PREFACE

CAST OF CHARACTERS

ACT ONE

ACT TWO

ACT THREE

ACT FOUR

ACT FIVE

ACT SIX

ACT SEVEN

ACT EIGHT

ACT NINE

ACT TEN

ACT ELEVEN

ACT TWELVE

THE FIGHT MAKERS:

Dick Tiger versus Gene Fullmer

August 10, 1963

To the memory of my beloved parents,

Abigail and Richard (Dick Tiger) Ihetu,

and to all who continue to fight in Africa’s honor

INTRODUCTION

Justina Ihetu has written a gratifying story about a courageous and important figure in the history of 20th century Africa. Her father, Dick Tiger, was a lion in the ring, but a wise owl in his everyday life. We experience his heroic story from the multiple perspectives of the village, the new nation, and the expatriate community. The event that propels the tale is the first world championship fight that took place in Africa. We witness and live alongside the participants in this epic battle between Dick Tiger and Gene Fullmer. The clear winner in this great contest is surely, the audience.

Steve Fagin, Professor,

Visual Arts Department,

University of California, San Diego.

When the past no longer illuminates the future,

the spirit walks in darkness.

—Alexis de Tocqueville

PREFACE

It took the passing of my dear mother, the matriarch of the Ihetu family, Dame Abigail Ihetu, in 2008, for me to take stock and come to grips with the depth of my father’s contributions to boxing and to humanity. As a result of Dick Tiger’s achievements in and out of the boxing ring, I am able to partake in a glorious legacy of self-actualization and service. This realization has inspired me and given me a sense of direction and personal enhancement.

Over the years, I’ve learned about my father’s pugilistic exploits from family, relatives, and strangers-turned-acquaintances—all of whom were eager to share their treasured stories of Dick Tiger’s feats inside and outside of the ring. I have heard countless stories of my father’s sense of patriotism and his heroism, as displayed on August 10, 1963, when he bore the weight of an entire nation on his shoulders and fought in honor of Nigeria and Africa.

This effort is a labor of love and my golden opportunity to document this auspicious event for posterity. I hope that the event of August 10, 1963, takes its rightful place as an epochal landmark in the history of Africa. On that day, the citizens of Nigeria stood as one and all prejudices among ethnicities and regions collapsed.

My prayer is that the spirit of nationalism, pride, and honor demonstrated by the principals who fought to bring this event to fruition will rub off on the present and future generations of Africans, so that we may be compelled to continue to forge that sense of unity, honor, and pride, which is Africa’s promise. I hope that through my retelling of these events, Nigerians will come to understand the importance of the spirit of unity and nationalism, which helped make August 10, 1963, a glorious day in the history of Nigeria and an honor to Africa.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

(The characters in bold type represent the main characters)

Abigail Ihetu: Dick Tiger’s wife, the wind beneath his wings—her invaluable encouragement and support enabled Dick Tiger to reach greater heights in his remarkable boxing career.

Bobby Diamond: Dick Tiger’s representative in Britain—he assists Jack Solomons in coordinating the Tiger-Fullmer fight in Ibadan.

Chief J. M. Udochi: Nigeria’s ambassador to the United States, who is instrumental in making the fight at home a reality.

Chief Joseph Modupe Johnson (JMJ): The high-voltage but amiable minister of sports in Nigeria, whose vision engineered the successful staging of Africa’s first-ever world-championship bout in Ibadan, Nigeria.

CHIEF OKEUGO: An oppressive warrant chief.

Chief S. O. Adebo: Nigeria’s ebullient and eloquent permanent representative to the United Nations (UN).

Dick Tiger: A champion Nigerian boxer and the reigning world middleweight boxing champion.

Dolores Fullmer: Gene Fullmer’s loving wife.

DR. NNAMDI AZIKIWE: A sagacious and charismatic leader; he was the governor-general of the Nigerian Federation from 1950 to 1964.

Ejiatu Ihetu: Affectionately called Taatu, she is Dick Tiger’s mother and the matriarch of the Ihetu family.

FIGHT-AT-HOME COMMITTEE SPOKESPERSON: Vocalized the intent and interest(s) of the committee to the Nigerian public.

FOREIGN REPORTER

Gene Fullmer: A champion American boxer who challenges Dick Tiger for the world middleweight championship crown.

Godwin, Nelson, and Chinaka: Dick Tiger’s siblings.

HARRY LEVINE, NORMAN ROTHSCHILD, and MARK RHODES: Boxing promoters who aggressively bid to host the Tiger-Fullmer III Fight.

Hogan Kid Bassey: Featherweight world boxing champion from Nigeria; he is the second African to win a world boxing title.

Jack Solomons: A world-renowned British boxing promoter, who is charged with the audacious task of staging the first-ever world boxing championship bout on African soil.

Jimmy August: Dick Tiger’s trainer in America—though heavyset, he is endowed with superb training skills.

Marv Jensen: Gene Fullmer’s manager—he performs the same role for Gene Fullmer that Jones does for Dick Tiger.

MESSENGER: A messenger in the Oloko native court.

MR. TALADE and MR. WULITE: Members of the Nigerian delegation to San Francisco, California, for the first Tiger versus Fullmer fight.

NARRATOR# 1, NARRATOR #2, NARRATOR#3

NWANYERUWA, IKONNIA, NWANNEDIA, MKPURUMMA: Militant women, they fight against the oppressive and unfair policies of the colonial British overlords.

NZE JOE UZOMA: A community elder.

PARADE OF SCHOOLCHILDREN: They sing praises of Dick Tiger’s duel with Gene Fullmer.

PRESSMAN

REPORTER #1 and REPORTER #2

Richard Jr.: Dick Tiger’s first son, who was named after him.

RING ANNOUNCER

SANGOGBEMI and SANGODIRAN: Rain doctors hired by the Nigerian minister of sports.

SIR ALHAJI ABUBAKAR TAFAWA BALEWA: A powerful legislator, and the first and only prime minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

TONY VAIRO: Manages Dick Tiger’s career in Liverpool after Tiger lost his first manager, Peter Banasko.

Ugboaja: Dick Tiger’s father.

Wilfred Jersey Jones: Dick Tiger’s American manager—he manages Dick Tiger’s training routine and ensures that he has the required diet, training, and focus to win fights.

WOMEN’S DANCING GROUP: They sing and dance in praise of Dick Tiger’s feats with Gene Fullmer in the roped ring.

ACT ONE

SCENE ONE

Narrator #1: Crowds of market women, wailing and cursing, proceed to Chief Okeugo’s compound,¹ on this damp and steamy morning. His house is one of the largest concrete houses scattered in the rustic town. Palm trees and coconut trees line the dusty red-clay road leading into the main road. At his house, the women protest nonviolently, but without warning, events quickly take a turn for the worse.

(Upon reaching Okeugo’s house, all noise stops instantly when one of the leaders, Nwannedia, takes the stage to announce their arrival. She is slender, with a narrow face, and the youngest of the leaders. She has a high-pitched voice.)

Nwannedia: Please, who’s there? We, the market women of Oloko, want speak with Chief Okeugo, please! If anybody can hear me, please come listen to the southeast market women!

(The women wait for about half an hour, but Chief Okeugo is a no-show. They begin to grow restless, so Nwannedia repeats her request.)

Nwannedia: Is Chief Okeugo home? Please, come out and speak to us market women. We beg you! You can’t keep taking food from our children’s mouths! You can’t keep us women suffering!

(When no one heeds their requests, they commence sitting on, a nonviolent protest of singing and dancing, designed to catch the attention of their intended target—in this case, Okeugo.)

Market Women: (dancing and singing the following line ten times) Ma oghara ibu nwa beke, mma anyi egbuole Okeugo rie.

Translation: If it were not for the white man, we would have killed Chief Okeugo and eaten him up.

(When some of the chief’s relatives cannot stand the commotion any longer, they burst out and, in his defense, begin throwing sticks and shooting bird arrows. The women fight back, wailing and cursing. Their leaders try to pacify them, but their pleas fall on deaf ears. The situation escalates into a frenzy as the women loot and burn Chief Okeogu’s residence to the ground!)

Nwannedia: Ewooh! No! Please, no—

Ikonnia: No! Ewooh! Please stop! Don—

Narrator #1: That was in the year 1929, the same year as the birth of the protagonist in this story, Richard (Dick Tiger) Ihetu. British colonial authorities bite off more than they can chew when they enact a tax law to swell the coffers of the colonial government. Their new law encounters tremendous resistance from the market women in southeastern Nigeria. Women and children had been exempt from taxation, but the new reassessment of the tax law includes a reassessment of the taxable wealth of the market women! Prices of locally made goods, which the women sell, are falling, while heavy customs duties are imposed on imported materials they depend on for daily use. With the colonial policies threatening and weakening the women’s social and economic status, the market women make several attempts to hold a dialogue with the administrators but are shunned; therefore, they take it into their own hands to curb what they perceive to be the excesses of an unjust and insensitive foreign government. The colonizers maintain control indirectly, through local chiefs called warrant chiefs. These chiefs dispatch court messengers to individual families in order to ascertain the value of the possessions of those families. One such chief is corrupt warrant chief, Okeugo. He refuses to heed the advice of fellow warrant chiefs to relax the enforcement of the unfair tax law. As a result, he meets with a most unfortunate reprisal when the militant market women attack. The market women in 1929 unify to fight a noble battle for the dignity and honor of Nigerian and African women, just as the people of Nigeria stand in unity, despite insurmountable odds, to host a world-championship fight, in Africa’s honor, for the first time on African soil.

SCENE TWO

Narrator #1: Earlier in the week, Chief Okeugo addresses a gathering of uniform clad messengers in his office at the Oloko native court. The courtroom is adorned with pictures of colonial rulers and Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth. Okeugo is a tall, muscular young man with a scar near his left eyebrow. He is wearing a red cap with a bird’s feather protruding upward, khaki shorts, and a T-shirt, with a traditional wrap draped over one shoulder and hanging to his knees.

Chief Okeugo: (Shrieking) Messengers of Her Majesty’s court! We have not met the required tax quota to enable the Honorable Captain Hill to effectively carry out Her Majesty’s wishes in our province! (He points at each of them in turn.) You are hereby directed to comb through (mimicking the action with his hands) all the houses and compounds in Oloko! (Pause) Be sure to enter every taxable item into your notebooks—Man’s! Woman’s! Child’s! Livestock and other valuables! (He twirls a stick in his hands.) Any subject who resists your authority resists Her Majesty’s orders and must be punished! (He motions to them to leave.) Now go!

(The messengers scamper in different directions. As they leave, he calls out to them. They halt.)

Chief Okeugo: Take a measurement of every farm! (They nod.) Count their cash crops and their yam heaps! We must meet these very reasonable demands of our venerable masters! (Working himself up into a frenzy, he wrings his hands, crushing the stick he holds between his hands.) Go! Go! (They begin to leave.) Anyone who does not cooperate must be made to regret it!

(As they leave, he peers at the crushed pieces of wood in his hands. Sighing, he takes off his red cap and self-consciously sinks into a chair.)

SCENE THREE

Narrator #1: One of Chief Okeugo’s messengers, a shifty-looking young man, upon hearing the