When Hollywood producers cast about for an inspirational story of the human spirit triumphing against impossible odds, they will not only consider Steve Jobs’ extraordinary life but also that of a less-famous 52-year-old boxer from New York, Dewey Bozella.
After spending 26 years behind bars for a crime that he did not commit Mr. Bozella, now exonerated of any wrongdoing, will, this week realise his cherished dream of making his professional boxing debut.
On Saturday he will take on current light-heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins (46) in Los Angeles. Whether or not he wins, it will mark the crowning glory of his never-say-die attitude, and lend credence to the belief that a person’s true mettle is only revealed in times of adversity.
His troubles began back in 1983, when the then-18-year-old Mr. Bozella was convicted of murdering Emma Crapser (92) six years earlier. He was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison despite never giving up his claim to innocence. So much so, that even despite facing a parole board four times during his incarceration, Mr. Bozella could not be persuaded to admit guilt and allow the board to consider releasing him.
Little did he know then that given the vagaries of the United States’ justice system his refusal to strike a compromise would cost him more than a quarter century of his life. Yet, when Mr. Bozella was held at New York’s Sing Sing prison, he kept his spirits up, earning not only bachelors and masters degrees from the Theological Seminary there but also continuing to box and gaining the title of Sing Sing’s light-heavyweight champion.
Redemption finally came when, late in his jail term, Mr. Bozella contacted the Innocence Project, a legal charity committed to overturning wrongful convictions. Faced with a shortage of DNA evidence, the group sent his case to the law firm WilmerHale, where attorneys discovered new evidence possessed by the police officer who had initially investigated the Bozella case.
According to reports, the officer had already retired but miraculously, had retained only Mr. Bozella’s file, which “included numerous pieces of evidence favourable to Mr. Bozella that had not been turned over to his lawyers”.
With this new evidence Mr. Bozella was cleared of all wrongdoing and walked out a free man in October 2009. He was released after justices agreed that the district attorney in the original case had failed to disclose crucial evidence which would have proved Mr. Bozella’s innocence.
Even as Mr. Bozella, whose life has echoes of the Rocky movies, steps into the spotlights to take on his powerful opponent this weekend, he will know that his life’s greatest fight has already been won.
After his release he said, “No matter how much boxing meant to me and motivated me, my biggest fight was for my freedom... I never gave up. I knew I was getting out of prison. Either I was going to die in there and go out in a box or I was going to walk out of there a free man.”
