Hawaii Boxing Legends Dies

Carl "Bobo" Olson was the only Hawaii fighter elected to the international boxing hall of fame. He passed away Wednesday night at the Queen's Medical Center.

Olson grew up in Kalihi where he learned how to fight on the mean streets. His natural ability led him to professional boxing and he became world middleweight champion in 1953.

"He won a world title, he won an American title, he fought the best there ever was to fight, so I'd say, he was the best fighter Hawaii's ever produced," said Bobby Lee, V.P. of the World Boxing Council.

Olson had 128 professional bouts and won 116 of them, a record not many boxers can match. This was when the sport had just one champ in each weight class.

"To be a champion at the time Bobo was a world's champion, that's a feat that's hard to even come by again because you have so many sanctioning bodies nowadays its so watered down you can't even keep track of who's who," said Les Keiter, Olson's friend.

"He was a very insistent kind of a fighter very intense. From the minute the bell rang in round one, he was all out," continued his friend.

Outside the ring, Olson was a much different person.

"He was a charmer he was very personable, he loved people. When he came back to Hawaii with his family, his wife said to me he loved everyday to go up the street, just walk up the sidewalk and talk to people."

Olson's pro career began when he was about 15-years-old. He faked an I.D and added tattoos to make himself look older. By the time boxing officials found out his real age, Olson had already won his first 19 fights.

Olson retired in 1966 and worked in the mainland before living out the last few years of his life where it all began, back in Kalihi.