The situation of the Nigerian boxing before 2014 was less than attractive. The sport cut the image of an intensive care unit patient with hope ebbing away. It had been battered, for decades, by a conspiracy between poor funding and wretched organisation. Boxing gyms were squalid and naturally, boxing talents fading fast.
Many boxers had dumped the sport for semi-skilled or unskilled jobs, they had families and needed to make ends meet. There was little hope in Nigeria boxing and there were no tournaments across the country.
The sport that once had glamour, glitz and charm was a shadow of itself. Even worse, Nigeria’s name had faded from the international boxing scene and increasingly became less of a threat at Olympic and Commonwealth Games.
Talking of Olympics, Nigeria have won three silver and three bronze from all its participation at the Games but the last medal came in 1996 in Atlanta, United States thanks to Duncan Dokiwari showing at the Men’s super heavyweight. He finished with a bronze.
Since 1996 till now, Nigerians hold very little hope of winning a medal in boxing and rightly so. The sport has been in shambles, its management, organization and structure has been almost non-existent. Suffice to say, the sport was going into extinction in Nigeria, then came GOtv Boxing Night.
READ ALSO: Man Shoots Colleague Dead, Sets Self On Fire
At first, it started like a joke and many stakeholders in Nigeria were not certain how long this new boxing tournament was going to last because Nigerians have seen far too many boxing tournaments come and go, so therefore their skepticism was in order.
When the tournament birthed, boxers were scarce commodities and facilities were comatose. It was almost like boxing was re-introduced into Nigeria. Then the first GOtv Boxing Night happened. If Nigerians were starved of boxing activities this was their meal and boy, did they savour it? Yes, they did with both hands.
The bug was catching on with every GOtv Boxing Night that was held in major cities across the country, then it fast became a movement. The redemption that boxing sought had finally come. Put simply, GOtv Boxing Night is akin to Jesus Christ coming to save the world.
Finally some boxing activity had returned to Nigeria and on social media it was a buzz. The class, suave and organization of the competition blew many away. It’s not quite the Madison Square Garden stage in New York but there are signs that in the future international heavyweight fights could be decided in Nigeria.
As far as Africa is concerned, GOtv Boxing Night is a model and boxers from Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda and other countries want in. They are asking for fights at the GOtv Boxing Night not only because the tournament will be televised live across 27 countries but also because it’s a major step up for their careers.
With African Boxing Union and West African Boxing Union belts on the line there is no bigger stage in Africa for so many fighters to show their skills and talents to the continent and indeed the rest of the world right now.
For me, the icing on the cake is that GOtv Boxing Night 19 will feature four female professional boxers. The fights which will hold 14 July at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos will be a rebirth of female boxing in Nigeria.
Remember the names of Mariam Yusuf, Rodiat Yusuf, Cynthia Ogunsemilore and Adedeji Abiodun who were selected to fight at the event, they will be world beaters in the future.
Just before I go, I want to say as a Nigerian, I’m happy this is happening in our country and in my lifetime. I never believed I’ll be seeing boxing in this country again. Way to go!
