Seifu Mekonnen - Ethiopian Boxer

Ethiopians Help a Fellow Boxer That Has Had to Withdraw from the Boxing Bags

In Los Angeles, Ethiopians have a big heart and in early 2011 held a fundraiser for Seifu Makonnen, who needed a kidney transplant. This is just one of the events that has been held by this community almost every month to help raise funds for Ethiopians in need.

In late 2010 the same community held an event for two Ethiopians that were suffering from cancer. They were able to raise $55,000 at this one fundraiser. Seifu Makonnen, a world-renowned boxer, needed a helping hand and this community stood up to the challenge. Ethiopians will help one another, whether they punch boxing bags or drive taxis for a living, whenever it is needed.

Seifu Makonnen

Seifu Makonnen used to be a boxer in East Africa with the nickname Tibo, which means "knockout" in Amharic. He participated in the Munich Olympic Games in 1972 representing Ethiopia, and has won many gold medals in boxing rings around the world. In 1974 he was sent to jail for several months when the communist regime first came into power. He was later sent to Cuba and then on his return back to his home country he asked for political asylum in Montréal Canada. In 1978 he applied for refugee status in the United States and moved to LA.

He founded the first Ethiopian church in the country and then, while living in Washington for a short time, he started a health center for Ethiopian athletes and a radio program that dealt with Ethiopian sports. He found boxing bags for sale and continued to pound them during training and held a few professional fights in the US. In 1981 he retired and hung up his boxing gloves for good.

Seifu Makonnen Today

Seifu was the manager of a taxi company for many years and in the 1980s he found out that he had diabetes. He managed his exercise and diet but the disease he was fighting was strong and in 2009 his kidneys failed him. Currently he is undergoing dialysis and is waiting for a kidney transplant. Ethiopians in the community are rallying around him to give support to not only a man that used boxing bags to bring fame to his country but one that has a true humanitarian spirit as well.