8th December, 2010
“If wishes were horses beggars would ride†this saying aptly described what happened in the first quarter of the outgoing year 2010 under review.
With promises coming at the beginning of the year from three stakeholders; Secretary General of the Nigerian Boxing Board of Control, NBB, of C, Remi Aboderin; a boxing promoter, Cyril Olanrenwaju and a former President of Nigeria Boxing Federation, NBF, Rotimi George-Taylor, both amateur, professional boxers and boxing lovers thought there would be an unprecedented boxing show to keep them busy. But they were wrong, as there was little or nothing to show for the promises made.
Apart from the two professional boxing shows; The Awekeen Punches Boxing Extravaganza and the Pugilists At Work, there were really no boxing shows to keep the boxers busy.
Even, The Awekeen Punches Boxing Extravaganza was marred by the behaviour of fans who made trouble at the venue; Indoor Sports Hall, National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, Nigeria. During the period, three boxers were penalised by the NBB Of C .
Two of the boxers, former Commonwealth Games silver medalist, Oluwafemi Ajayi and a former National champion, Felix Friday were sanctioned for the unrest caused by their fans after losing their fights, while Idowu Akinsola was sanctioned for bringing the sport into disrepute.
On Akinsola’s case, the NBB Of C alleged that being a professional boxer, he should know the rules and regulation of the sport and could have helped to put the situation under control.
George-Taylor at the beginning of the year gave his words that he was going to do all within his power to keep the amateur boxers in Nigeria busy; but it was only one competition, staged by the Okumagba Community in Epe, Lagos, Nigeria that was organised.
Apparently aware that the promises made were empty ones, former Olympian, Jeremiah Okorodudu predicted then that boxing in the quarter under review would go from bad to worse.
The former boxer, turned boxing coach, who also represented Nigeria in the Middleweight boxing event at the 1984 Olympic Games, said there were clear pointers that boxing in Nigeria would nosedive, alleging that the administrators were only there to enrich themselves to the detriment of the square-roped sport.
In faraway Nevada, United States of America, USA, where former World Boxing Council, WBC champion, Samuel “The Nigerian Nightmare†Peter filed a law suit in Clark County District Court in USA.
The Akwa Ibom State-born professional pugilist claimed that his former promoters: Don King and Dino Duva were owing him more than $400,000 promised him for his October 2008 bout against Vitali Klitschko.
However, the only thing worthy of note during the period under review was the commendation given to the chairman of Amuwo Odofin Local Government, Comrade Ayodele Adewale, for giving the FESTAC Boxing Club and Academy’s gym a face-lift.
He was commended by Chief Coach of the Academy, Oluwafemi Sholanke.
The coach praised the chairman for making good his promise of giving the gym a new look.
In conclusion, boxing did not give Nigerian boxers anything special to celebrate during the quarter.