Akpan Wants Jonathan’s Backing For Ali

Former West African Welterweight boxing champion, Felix Akpan has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to give the country backing to the proposed Guinness Book of World Record fight which will involved Bashiru Lawrence Ali a.k.a Bash Ali and a yet to be named opponent.

Apkan, who is managing Ejigbo Boxing Gym, told P.M.NEWS Boxing in Focus at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos that staging the International Boxing Union, IBU sanctioned fight in Nigeria would not only give Bash Ali the chances of winning the bout, but it would also help launder the nation’s image among the comity of boxing countries in the world. He said that he has the confidence in Bash Ali to win the fight and become the oldest man to win a boxing championship in the world.

According to Akpan, a chieftain of National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW in Ikeja, Lagos, “when I watched Bash Ali exchanging pleasantries with President Jonathan on television, I was so happy because Ali has been on with the plans to stage the Guinness Book of World Record fight in the country for so long. There is no doubt that if the country stages the fight, it would add value to sports development and also aid the chances of our own Bash Ali winning the fight.

“I want to call on President Jonathan to ensure that the hosting right of the fight is won by the country and all logistics for a successful staging of the bout be provided. It is high time we focus on other sports apart from football. The attention giving to football by the government and the people is too much. Other sports are also calling for equal support and attention.

“Boxing had in the past brought honour and fame to this country. The likes of Hogan Kid Bassey and a host of other pugilists had won laurels for themselves and this great nation in the past.”

Akpan also called Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola to resuscitate the dying sports of boxing in Lagos State. The former champion, who was glad with the attention giving to sports development by the government of Fashola especially through the initiative of grassroots sports development, said there are a lot of boxing talents on the streets of Lagos that can be discovered and groom to the stardom.