Ex-boxer James Oyebola dies of gunshot injury after dispute about smoking at London bar

Former heavyweight boxer James Oyebola died Friday, four days after being shot in the head following a dispute about smoking at a London bar, police said.

Doctors turned off life-support systems after determining that Oyebola's brain was dead.

Oyebola, 47, a native of Nigeria, was a bronze medalist at the 1986 Commonwealth Games and won the World Boxing Council international heavyweight title in 1993. He retired from the ring in 1996.

Metropolitan Police said the 6-foot, 9-inch (206-centimeter-tall) boxer apparently tried to intervene in a dispute between staff at a west London bar and three customers, reportedly about enforcing the recent ban on smoking in public places.

The argument, which occurred just after midnight Sunday, involved three men and security over smoking in the covered courtyard at the rear of the premises.

Witnesses said four shots were fired, and the suspects fled. No arrests have been made.