Tag: GOtv Boxing

The second edition of GOtv Boxing NextGen search ended on Friday, with the unveiling of 16 promising young boxers at a brief ceremony held at the Lagos Boxing Hall of Fame Gym.

The boxers were selected from a crowd of over 100 boxers, who participated in sparring sessions that lasted two days.

Joe Mensah, renowned boxing coach and head of the selection panel, thanked the sponsors for their desire to see the country produce a new generation of professional boxers. General Secretary of the Nigerian Boxing Board of Control, Remi Aboderin, described the decision of the sponsors to pay for the professional licences of the boxers as a bold sign of encouragement, adding that the products of GOtv Boxing NextGen Search 1, who benefited from a similar gesture, have started doing well as professionals.

Jenkins Alumona, Managing Director, Flykite Promotions, organisers of the talent search, said one of the boxers selected from the GOtv Boxing NextGen Search will make his professional debut at GOtv Boxing Night  on 2 October.

The selection panel identified three boxers as having showed more promise than others. They are Oluwaseyi Samson (lightweight), Akintayo Femi (super middleweight) and Emmanuel Chukwuma (light heavyweight). The three were given GOtv decoders and will join three others in camp at the Lagos Boxing Hall of Fame Gym in September.

The best boxer at the 4th edition of the GOtv Boxing Night, Otto ‘Joe Boy’ Joseph has said that he deserved to go home with the N1m prize money at the event held at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium in Lagos on Sunday night.

Joseph who emerged the second winner of the cash prize, the biggest pay-out in Nigerian boxing history, defeated Nurudeen ‘Prince’ Fatai in an explosive National Lightweight challenge contest. He was voted the Boxer of the Night by journalists and won the Mojisola Ogunsanya Memorial Trophy and the cash prize of N1m.

“I really deserved to go home with the top prize. This victory is to show my fellow colleagues that I’m good and they should hope to see the best of me again in December, I don’t have anything to worry about,” Otto told SportingLife after he was announced winner.

“I thank GOtv very much for giving me the opportunity to come out here because today is the happiest day of my life. I said I’m going to set a record which I have done tonight. I know that Prince is going to make me get what I want because he is a good fighter, I never dispute that, but I’m better than him because I have all the techniques to make sure that I bring him down and which I have done,” he said.

In another fight, Waidi “Skoro” Usman, the West African Featherweight champion, knocked out Taofik “Taozon” Bisuga in the fourth round of their eight-round contest.

Olaide “Fijaborn” Fijabi, who took on Saheed “Happy Boy” Olayiwola stopped his opponent in the fifth of their eight-round fight. Fijabi was the first winner of the N1m when he was named the best boxer at the third edition in July.

Isiaka “Easy Lion” Yusuf was devoured by Stanley “Edo Boy” Eribo, who won by a third round knockout in a National Featherweight challenge.

In the headline bout, Nigeria’s Isaac Ekpo, a former Commonwealth Super Middleweight champion, accounted for Burkina Faso’s Jules Kabore, who was knocked out in the fifth round of the scheduled 10-round bout. In the opening fight of the night, Jamiu “Naval Man” Olabode defeated Pelumi “Haggler” Sodubi via a second round knockout.

Sponsored by pay-TV company, GOtv, the tournament is supported by other corporate bodies like MultiChocie, SuperSport, KSquare Security, Custodian Assurance Limited, Complete Sports, Brilla FM, Bond FM and Newsbreak.ng.

Olaide “Fijaborn” Fijabi, the star Light Welterweight boxer, won the biggest ever pay-out in the history of Nigerian boxing, as he was voted best boxer at the GOtv Boxing Night on Sunday.

Fijabi also went home with the Mojisola Ogunsanya Memorial Trophy and plenty of adulation, following his defeat of Kazeem “Iberu” Ariyo, by unanimous decision, in the eight-round contest.

From the first round, Fijabi, the clear crowd favourite, punished his opponent with deft combinations that left the huge crowd screaming his name.

Ariyo, a decent boxer in his own right, however, found Fijabi too hot to handle.

In another big fight on the night, Sule “Tyson” Olagbade, National Light Middleweight  champion, retained his belt, following his defeat of challenger, Rasheed “Afonja Warrior” Abolaji in their closely-contested 12-round bout.

All the judges called the fight in Olagbade’s favour.

Both boxers fought with gusto, drawing unrestrained applause from the crowd.

In the Lightweight category, the challenge bout between Prince Nurudeen Fatai and Chibuzor “T-Boy” Obi ended in the latter’s favour by unanimous decision.

Sunday “Golden Child” Ajuwa also defeated Femi “Easywhite” Ajayi in an eight-round Cruiserweight challenge.

In the Heavyweight division, Onoriode “Onos” Ehwarieme  knocked out Adewale “Masevex” Masebinu in the second of their six-round challenge bout.  The international female bout between Nigerian boxer, Helen “Iron Lady” Johnson and Ghana’s Gifty “Tiger” Ankrah was won by unanimous decision by the Nigerian.

Sponsored by GOtv, the event is supported by MultiChoice, SuperSport, KSquare Security, Newsbreak.ng, Complete Sports, Brilla FM and Paragonis Multimedia Limited.