Puerto Rican skilled boxer Paul Bamba passed on to the great beyond this week, his circle of relatives and supervisor, R&B singer Shaffer “Ne-Yo” Smith, showed in a joint commentary on Friday. He was once 35.
“It’s with profound sorrow that we announce the passing of cherished son, brother, buddy and boxing champion Paul Bamba, whose mild and love touched numerous lives,” the commentary posted on Instagram learn.
“He was once a fierce but assured competitor with an unrelenting ambition to reach greatness. However greater than anything else, he was once an amazing person that impressed many together with his remarkable power and resolution. We’re heartbroken by way of his passing and kindly ask for privateness and figuring out all the way through this hard time as we jointly navigate our grief.”
The inside track comes one week after Bamba received the WBA Gold Cruiserweight identify and broke Mike Tyson‘s file for essentially the most skilled fights in one 12 months—14 fights, all knockouts.
In finding out extra under.
Who Was once Paul Bamba?
Bamba was once born in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, and was once no longer just a boxer but in addition a Marine Corps veteran. His trail to boxing started after he struggled with PTSD following a excursion in Iraq and confronted homelessness. He fought his means up the ranks, coaching at Morris Park Boxing Membership within the Bronx, and became skilled in January 2021.
In a 2021 interview, Bamba credited the game for converting his existence and giving him a way of objective.
“I grew up in foster properties and enlisted within the Marines when I used to be 17. After the Marines, I moved to New York Town to construct a existence and occupation for myself. However discovering luck within the town, particularly beginning with not anything, is usually a problem. I used to be homeless two times all the way through the primary few years, however in the end discovered some footing on the earth of health and boxing. I began as a fighter and a instructor at boxing gyms. A couple of years later, I based Trifecta Robust LLC. I’ve been combating in quite a lot of techniques my complete existence.
Boxing has taught me to be a greater particular person. It has taught me that you’ll by no means be absolute best at the entirety. Some stuff is at all times going to be a problem, however adaptability is extra necessary than perfection. If you happen to run into an issue, you’ll’t simply surrender. It’s figuring out that you need to stay pushing ahead and on the identical time be OK with no longer realizing the entirety.”
Bamba’s victory over Rogelio Medina in New Jersey gave him a occupation file of 19-3, with 18 knockouts—14 of which got here in 2024.
On the time of his passing, Bamba was once dwelling in Atlanta and dealing as Ne-Yo’s private instructor.
What Was once Bamba’s Explanation for Loss of life?
The reason for Bamba’s demise has no longer been printed as of but. Then again, some fanatics are speculating that it might had been because of a well being factor since certainly one of Bamba’s fights previous this 12 months was once canceled because of an “unexpected clinical factor,” Emerging Celebrity Promotions defined in an Instagram commentary in September 2024. The fit was once rescheduled to happen in October 2024 in New Jersey.