'Coondog’ O'Karma celebrates 50 years of competitive eating with another win Friday at Cuyahoga Falls pizza contest

In 1972, 15-year-old David “Coondog” O’Karma finagled his way onto “The Houlihan and Big Chuck Show” to take part in their Pizza Fight of the Century. O’Karma won the pizza-eating competition, beating the show’s previously undefeated champion.

The belt he won was cheaply made from blue cardboard, aluminum foil and felt. But to O’Karma, as he walked around school the next day wearing the belt, it might as well have been made of real silver, gold and silk.

“It changed my life,” he said. “My talent isn’t that big. It’s kind of a nothing talent, but it’s turned out to be a pretty cool hand.”

Fifty years after his win, O’Karma, now 66 and living in Munroe Falls, again triumphed over competitors in a pizza-eating competition Friday  at the 2022 Falls Downtown Fridays, Cuyahoga Falls’ summer event series.

“(I) kicked butt and was able to finally retire in my hometown still champion,” O'Karma said.

'Nobody's taking me down'

“I’m long in the tooth, and you know what? That’s a good thing for a competitive eater,” O’Karma said Thursday before the competition. “I’m ready to go. Nobody’s taking me down tomorrow. Listen, I eat it to defeat it.”

In coordination with the eating competition, Cuyahoga Falls also temporarily renamed Broad Boulevard in honor of O’Karma on Monday. The Honorary Boulevard Street Naming Award is an initiative used to pay homage to the people and organizations that selflessly give back to Cuyahoga Falls residents and the city as a whole.

“I’m being recognized by my community for just, I think, putting a smile on their face,” he said. “I think that’s a pretty cool thing to know about yourself that it made people smile. You know, that’s a cool thing. It’s not nothing.”

The “Dave O’Karma Boulevard” sign will sit at the commemorative site in the median strip at Broad Boulevard and Third Street until the end of the summer.

O’Karma once held the world records in doughnut, hard-boiled egg and corn on the cob consumption.

Fierce competitor is (mostly) retired 

Today, O’Karma is retired from competitive eating but still competes on occasion. Four years ago, he participated in a corn eating contest as a fundraiser for his grade school, Immaculate Heart of Mary School in Cuyahoga Falls.

“I’m a coondog, but I have more lives than a cat,” he said. “I keep coming back. Every time I think it’s over, it starts over again.”

The eating competition benefits Cuyahoga Falls Good Neighbors, an all-volunteer non-profit charitable organization that annually serves more than 800 local families who are food insecure.

“Cuyahoga Falls was a great place to grow up,” O’Karma said. “They asked me to pick a charity and that was it because it just perfectly describes the city to me. It's just a nice warm place to live and grow up. The people are good neighbors there.”

Ahead of the competition, O’Karma was confident he would win. Those looking to challenge him can sign up for the competition here. There is a $30 registration fee, with all proceeds benefiting Cuyahoga Falls Good Neighbors, and the winner will receive a commemorative pizza paddle.

“I’m coming out of retirement for this,” he said. “Even on my worst day, I can beat anybody in Cuyahoga Falls.”