Skip to main content

GOtv Boxing Night 9: Fijabi, Joe Boy, Jagaban, others step up training

FILE PHOTO: Pound For Pound! Olaide 'Fijaborn' Fijabi in action against Sadiq “Police Machine” Ahmed

FILE PHOTO: Pound For Pound! Olaide ‘Fijaborn’ Fijabi in action against Sadiq “Police Machine” Ahmed

Boxers billed to fight at GOtv Boxing Night 9, scheduled for the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium on 2 October, have intensified their training ahead of the event.

The duo of Olaide “Fijaborn” Fijabi, national light welterweight champion, and Oto “Joe Boy” Joseph, national lightweight champion, disclosed that they have had to step up their training regime because they are fighting elite class opponents from Ghana.

Fijabi will be fighting Raphael Kwabena King in an international challenge contest, while Joe Boy takes on Richard “Desert Warrior” Amefun.

“I cannot afford to lose. This fight is more Nigeria vs Ghana than Fijabi vs King. I am working real hard in the training camp to ensure that my country is not made a laughing stock,” Fijabi said.

Joe Boy is similarly persuaded that the sporting rivalry between the two West African giants is one that cannot be played down.

“In sport, any contest between Nigeria and Ghana has its own life. I can’t afford to be defeated. As a matter of fact, I plan to win the N1.5million cash prize for the best boxer. Losing is unlikely to help that ambition,” said Joe Boy, a two-time winner of the cash prize for best boxer.

Semiu “Jagaban” Olapade, whose light middleweight bout with Ebubechukwu “Coded Man” Edeh is greatly anticipated on account of the huge promise the two boxers have shown, disclosed that he is in camp where coaches are smoothening the rough edges to his art. Jagaban was discovered at GOtv Boxing NextGen 2, while his opponent is a graduate of the maiden edition of the talent hunt.

Also gearing up is Ekeng “Fighting Policeman” Henshaw, who is defending his national cruiserweight title against Idowu “ID Cabasa” Okusote. Henshaw, who is rated seventh by the African Boxing Union, explained that he had to undergo intensive training because he has not fought for a long while.

“There were no promotions before GOtv Boxing Night. As such, there was no opportunity to fight, which means I have to undergo a punishing schedule to get me back into shape and beat that Cabasa or whatever he calls himself. I am close to 100 per cent and Cabasa is in big trouble,” he boasted.

Cabasa, who is being trained by former Commonwealth champion, Isaac Ekpo, dismissed Henshaw as a spent force. Other boxers for the event are also putting finishing touches to their preparations ahead of the event, which will be broadcast live by SuperSport in 47 African countries.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Court grants Fani-Kayode N50m bail

Fani-kayode sandwiched by EFCC officials Justice James Tsoho of the Federal High Court Abuja on Thursday granted a N50m bail to former spokesman of the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode. Fani-Kayode was arraigned by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a five-count charge of money laundering to the tune of N26m. Fani-Kayode is the sole defendant in the fresh charges numbered, FHC/ABJ/CR/140/2016. The EFCC accused the defendant of diverting 26 million Naira allegedly received from the ONSA while Sambo Dasuki was in office. The anti-graft agency also accused him of handling the said N26 million without going through financial institution as required under the Money Laundering Act. The embattled former minister is already facing 17-count charge of money laundering before the Lagos Division of the court, along with a former Finance Minister; Nenadi Usman, Danjuma Yusuf and a firm; Joint Trust Dimension Nigeria Limited. They were charg...
Post a Comment
Read more

Pope not involved in Colombian peace deal- Vatican

Pope Francis Pope Francis has turned down a request to play a role in the peace deal between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebel group. The Vatican in a statement issued on Wednesday in in Vatican City said that an invitation was sent to his Holiness in early August to appoint a representative to participate in the committee that selected the judges for the talks. The statement said that though Pope Francis supported the peace process, he, however, reiterated that he would not get involved in Colombian peace deal. It said that Pope was praying for the enlightenment of the hearts and minds of those who were called to promote the common good of the Colombian nation. A deal was announced last week, putting an end to five decades of internal conflict between government forces and the FARC rebels. The agreement, which needed to be ratified through a referendum in Oct. 2, would entail setting up a special court to grant amnesties or pu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Man docked for defiling 9-year-old girl

magistrate-court A 33-year-old man, Godwin Otobo, was on Monday docked at a Surulere Chief Magistrates’ Court in Lagos.For allegedly defiling a nine-year-old girl, ‎Otobo, who lives at No. 10, Borrow Pit St., Sangotedo-Ajah area of Lagos, was said to have defiled the underage girl whose parents also reside in the same compound. The Prosecutor, Sgt. Anthonia Osayande, told the court that the accused committed the offence at about 9.00 p.m. sometimes in September. “The accused defiled the girl in the night when she was fetching water.‎ “The offence contravened Section 137 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011,’’ Osayande told the court. The accused pleaded not guilty to the one-count charge of defilement. Ruling on a bail application filed by the accused, Chief Magistrate Ipaye Nwachukwu, granted him bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum. She said one of the sureties must be a property owner in Lagos State, while the other must be a civil servant on grade...
Post a Comment
Read more