Boxing: Lagos Reaps Benefits Of Boxing Hall Of Fame

The 2013 National Open Boxing Championships was come to a close at the weekend inside the Brai Ayonote Boxing Gym, National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos State, western Nigeria with Lagos carting home five gold, one silver and a bronze medal at the weeklong event.

Observers are of the view that the state is actually reaping the benefits of the monthly Saturday Night Boxing Championships stressing that while other states were sleeping Lagos was working round the clock.

The monthly Saturday Night Boxing Championship is a monthly amateur boxing event organised by the Lagos State Amateur Boxing Association and the Lagos Boxing Hall of Fame, LBHF, where elite boxers across the state test their might in boxing ring.

Some of the respondents opined that it was no fluke that Team Lagos were the pacesetters as they have since been planning while other states were asleep.

Former national boxing team coach, Femi Babafemi stated that Lagos State will continue to dominate elite boxing in Nigeria because of the monthly boxing tourney adding that it will not take long before boxers from Lagos takeover the national boxing team.

Another respondent, Femi Sholanke, who was Lagos State Heavyweight champion corroborated Babafemi’s stand, adding that Lagos stand to gain a lot by organising the monthly boxing tourney.

According to him “Lagos is reaping from their monthly boxing show because if not for the show they would be nowhere to be found at the Open Trials that was concluded at the weekend, in no distant time you will find boxers from Lagos dominating the national boxing camp.”

Essein Offiong, who represented Akwa Ibom State at the just concluded event, said he was really amazed with the performance of boxers from Lagos stressing that Lagos boxers are miles apart from their opponents that represented other states.

The 26-year old boxer said “I lost to a better boxer from Lagos State, he outpunched me, after the bout I was astonished and I had to ask questions on how he was able to defeat I was told that he was a regular at the Monthly Saturday Night boxing show.”

The team showed class in the men’s lightweight category (60kg) when Oto Joseph defeated Nkama Sunday of the Nigerian Army, while Olaide Fijabi, who fought in the light welterweight category (64kg), beat Olaiya Awolusi from Cross River State to win the gold.

Abua Christian stopped Adeniyi Korede from Kogi State in the 69kg weight class, while Francis Gabriel outclassed Akanji Monsuru of the NSCDC to claim the gold medal in the heavyweight (91kg) weight class.

Lagos’ fifth gold medal came in the women 75kg weight division, where Teniola Are scored a 2-1 split decision over Milicent Agboegbulem of Delta State.

The 44th edition of the Saturday Night Boxing Show holds this weekend.

—Adebobola Alawode