Ben lion heart
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Power Mike retired early as a professional wrestler in 1976 with a fight record of 125 without recording a single defeat. He entered wrestling promotion, helping to shape wrestling in Africa…
By Chimezie Chika
The Apprenticeship Years
Even in the most ordinary days of our lives, when we are only interested in grinding through our work for the day, it sometimes comes to us as a note of encouragement: “Power Mike, strong man, jisieike, keep on.” Energised, and wanting to prove that those words are no fluke, we continue with whatever menial or skilled work we are engaged in. Those words, “Power Mike,” used in everyday language to mean power and strength, once belonged to one of Nigeria’s most storied personages of the 20th century. “He brought wrestling to us,” Ben Udeogu, an Onitsha resident who lived in Lagos in the 1970s, said.
His story begins, as all such stories do, with his birth on August 8, 1939 to Echeobi and Janet Okpala at Neni in the state of Anambra. Christened Michael, his childhood was, by most extant accounts, unrema
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This is Chief Michael Ọkpara a.k.a Power Mike. A professional Wrestler and boxer from Neni, Anambra State.
He was born in August 1939 in Neni.
In 1952 he left his village for Ọnịcha, in order to learn how to organise and run a trade business.
In the same year he joined Dick Tiger Boxing Club as a middle weight amateur boxer and met Dick Ihetu Tiger his role model.
In 1961, he started a nationwide tour which took him to Ọnịcha, Enugu, Aba, Port Harcourt, Lagos, Jos and Kaduna.
In 1964, he went to Ghana and his performances there were successful. He defeated many.In 1967, he toured Cote d'Ivoire and Senegal before he found his way into Europe, accompanied by his friend Engr. Onyesọ, (the Igwe of Nri) He defeated many heavy weighters in Europe.
In 1967, he got a one-year contract in Sweden after which he went to Greece and became a professional wrestler. He defeated many wrestlers in Greece.
In 1970, he returned to Africa& defeated Gambia's Massambula to become the African heavyweight wrestling champion& titleholder
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