Written by: Ray Lamar Inspired by: Artist Bill Rembert

Taking the road less traveled is often the way to success. In life humans often overestimate the likelihood of experiencing positive events and underestimate the likelihood of experiencing unfortunate events. Dewy Bozaella was an upbeat guy that lit the room up with his smile, but misfortunate events followed him in his life for quite some time.   These events started when he was just a nine-year-old his father beat his then pregnant mother to death. After this incident his father then fled and never returned to look after Bozella. Bozella would live on with his three brothers, and before long tragedy would begin to strike them as well.  One of Bozellas brothers was stabbed to death, a second brother was shot and killed, and his third brother would pass away from AIDS. To add insult to injury Bozella Himself would start to have major trouble when he was convicted of the murder of 92-year-old women during a robbery. 

Dewey Bozella was sentenced after his conviction 20 years to life. After being in jail for a few years in isolation and angry he made a life changing discovery. In prison they had a boxing program that would be his release, and a way for him to mentally move on from his anger. Dewey found peace in prison through boxing and trained so hard that he became the Sing Sing Prison Lightweight Champion. Dewey’s talent was so phenomenal that a special fight was scheduled for Bozella to fight in prison against Lou Del Valle. Dewy put up a great fight but was cut and the blood made them stop the fight. Bozalla was quoted as saying it was not a shameful loss because “this is the first guy to knock down Roy Jones”. Boxing in prison gave dewy the strength to fight the most important one that he was facing, the fight of his life in prison and would he ever be granted redemption. Dewey would be given the opportunity to get out of prison if he admitted his guilt. But since he knew that he was an innocent man he refused the offer. Bozella would stay in prison for 26 years before the wrongful conviction surfaced and he would be acquitted on all charges.  He immediately scheduled his first professional fight at 52 years old when he got out of prison. Dewy would win his first and only professional fight in the 4th round.

Editor’s Note: This article first published on February 25, 2020