Paul Bamba

Paul Bamba (15 August 1989 – 27 December 2024) was a Puerto Rican professional boxer. In his last fight, he won the WBA Gold cruiserweight title after defeating Rogelio Medina on 21 December 2024.

Bamba was born in Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, on 15 August 1989.

On 4 October 2022, it was announced that Bamba would face British boxer Tommy Fury as the co-feature bout to Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs Deji at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai. However, during the weigh-in on 12 November, he weighed in at 176.6 Ibs while Fury weighed in at 181.4 Ibs. Both fighters stated that they made the weight that was stated in their contract. Bamba refused to fight, and on 13 November, the day of the fight, he was replaced by Cameroon boxer Rolly Lambert to fight Fury.

On April 21, 2023 Bamba faced UFC Bellator fighter Chris Avila, and lost by a unanimous decision making his record 5–3. Following the defeat, he went on a knockout streak, with many of the wins believed to have been fixed.

In November 2024, having achieved a record of 18 wins and 3 losses with 17 knockouts in a span of a year and half since his last loss, with 13 straight wins since January 2024 winning all by knockouts, Bamba was the first fighter signed to entertainer Ne-Yo's sports management company. Prior to that he had already captured the WBA-NABA cruiserweight title, WBA Fedecaribe and Fedecentro titles. Bamba first met Ne-Yo as his trainer, teaching him boxing as part of Ne-Yo's workout routine.

In 2024, Bamba fought 14 bouts ending in 14 KOs throughout the year and earned the WBA Gold cruiserweight title after defeating Rogelio Medina. He broke Mike Tyson's record for most professional fights in a one-year span.

Bamba died on 27 December 2024, at the age of 35. It was reported that he made brain damage admission weeks before death. After a fight against Avila, Paul later commented: "fighting Avila with a concussion and losing 22 lbs in three days gave me slight brain damage. Which was a bit scary and I had to take 8 months off so it's not a joking matter." In a later tweet he claimed he wasn't able to speak about it until Misfits Boxing decided to.