Nigeria’s first boxer to enter the ring at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Bolanle Shogbamu was controversially defeated by England’s Jodie Wilkinson in the women’s light middleweight (66kg-70kg).
In the first round, the judges awarded the bout to Shogbamu as she landed several blows on her opponent to the disappointment of the home fans. But the second round went the way of the English lady who also dominated the round.
But the third round produced fireworks from the boxers with Shogbamu technically having an upper hand but for the final decision of the judges, the bout was awarded to Wilkinson to the disappointment of the Nigerian who did not hide her displeasure after the bout.
Even some boxers from other nations questioned the decision of the judges which whom they expressed concern.
Nigeria, however, has something to cheer about as Azeez Osoba progressed to the last 16 of the men’s light middleweight (67kg-71kg) after knocking out Bahamas’ Carl Hield in the first round of the bout.
From the start of the bout, it was a determined Osoba who launched the onslaught against his unstable opponent who was running round the ring with the target of getting a knockout. But as the bout progressed Osoba was landing heavy blows on his opponent and toward the end of the first round, the Bahamas boxer received a heavy blow from Osoba and this made him lose his balance for the referee to call off the fight.