Nigerian veteran professional boxers have commended the organizers of forthcoming professional boxing competition tagged Gotv Boxing Night for putting in place an insurance policy worth twenty four million naira(N24 Million Naira) for the pugilists to participate in the fight fixed for Sunday,23rd of November 2014 at the indoor sports hall of the National Stadium.
The fight is organised by Flykite production in conjunction with Gotv and other corporate bodies.
Former Nigeria's Light heavyweight champion,Joe Lasis,who was among the invited Nigerian's veteran professional boxers at the press conference held on Thursday at the Old Skool Restaurant at the National Stadium, to usher in the professional boxing championship,says he is delighted over the new innovation of elevating the status of professional boxing through the provision of an insurance policy for the pugilists who would fight at the forthcoming bout in Lagos state.
Lasisi,who is relieved over the gesture,said the move showed that Nigerian professional boxers were recognized and that a lot of them would be encouraged and motivated to fight because such a laudable concept has never occurred in the history of professional boxing in Nigeria.
The former African Light Heavyweight champion,who was emotional laden over the attitude of the Federal Government towards his colleagues,former Nigerian boxers Dele Jonathan,Hogan Jimoh,Ray Amao among others,are in dire need of government assistance because most of them did not have anything to fall back onto after retiring from active boxing,adding that the insurance policy came at a time when Nigeria's professional boxers are not motivated to fight.
To Nigerian Olympian,Jerry Okorodudu, the Gotv Boxing Night will change the trend of low purse fight for the professional boxers who according to him fight for meager amount of money,stressing that the provision of insurance policy would excite and encourage Nigeria's amateur boxers to join the league of professional boxers.
While commending Flykite productions,the organisers of historic competition,Okorodudu,urged the organisers to make it an annual event in order to discourage Nigerian professional boxers to depart the country for other West African nations with the view of featuring in regular boxing competitions.
The commonwealth Games bronze medal urged the boxers to fight professionally in a bid to encourage the promoter,Jenkins Alumona and the sponsors to continue staging the event for years,stressing that the promoter should endeavor to extend similar gesture to the amateur boxers.
He noticed that amateur boxers are afraid of being professional because of lack of credible managers,poor fighting purse and genuine promoters.
Meanwhile,the Vice president of Nigeria Boxing Board of control,NBB of C,Retired Captain Danjuma Maigari,who was excited of the new laudable concept of redeeming the battered image of professional boxing in Nigeria,said the competition would launched Nigeria's professional boxers in prominence in Africa and beyond as the new trend would encourage the nation's pugilists to prove their worth as world class boxers.
Maigari,appealed to the boxer's mangers to engage their wards in serious and severe training programme to enhance the promoter to further organise a befitting professional boxing competition,adding that the time has come for the boxers to have positive attitude of becoming world champions.
The Marketing Manager, Multichoice Nigeria,Martin Mabutho,said they supported the idea of regular professional boxing event because it is in line with their promise to keep developing sports in Nigeria.
Mabutho,stressed that multi-choice would use its platform which has added value to Nigeria professional football league and Nigeria Basketball League to improve the status of professional boxing ,adding that the competition is a turning point for professional boxing in Nigeria as they will use its platform to showcase Nigeria's boxers by beaming the Gotv Boxing Night live to Africans.
General Manager Gotv,Elizabeth Akpan,who spoke in the same line with Mabutho promised that the tournament's best boxer would win Gotv cup as a way motivating the boxers, adding that fifty (50) pieces of Gotv decoders would be given to spectators through a raffle draw.
Representative of Custodian Life Assurance, Lanre Adegbesan, who was delighted over the idea of reviving Nigeria's professional boxing, said the insurance company had put in place an insurance policy of to the tune of million naira for each boxer, stressing that the gesture was part of their Civil Social Responsibility to the society.
The pick of the six fights on the card is a National Featherweight Title bout between Dare “Fighting Machine” Oyewole and Waidi “ Scoro” Usman. Also on the card are Adewale ‘’Tiger’’ Abbey vs Tope “Young” Ogunshakin (Heavyweight); Stanley “Edo Boy” Johnson vs Saheed “Happy Boy” Olayiwola; Chijioke “Painless” Ngige vs Sunday “Capo” Olalekan (Light Middleweight); Dele “Lagelu” Adeleke vs Rashid “Afonja Warrior” Abolaji (Light Middleweight) and David “Lucky Boy” Ekpeyong vs Mohammed “Fearless” Tijani (Featherweight).
In attendance at the press conference were retired captain Danjuma Maigari, Vice President, Nigerian Boxing Board of Control; Remi Aboderin, Secretary-General, Nigerian Boxing Board of Control, Larry Ademeso, Managing Director, Custodian Life Assurance; Lanre Adegbesan, boxing legends Hogan Jimoh, Joe Okorodudu, Joe Lasisi, Obisia Nwakpa and Bob Alagoro.
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