Chuwudi Claims He’s A Star in Waiting

Chuwudi Claims He’s A Star in Waiting

GOtv Boxing Night 

New lightweight boxing sensation, Isaac “I-Star” Chukwudi, has boasted that he will be division’s biggest name on the domestic scene in the next one year. Chkwudi, a product of GOtv Boxing NextGen Search, is scheduled to fight Adeyemi “Spirit” Adekanla at GOtv Boxing Night 19 on Sunday, July 14.

The bout is one of the nine fights scheduled for the event, which holds at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos. Chukwudi made his professional debut at GOtv Boxing Night 18 in Ibadan, where an explosive opening salvo helped him finish off Jubril “Terrible” Olalekan in 50 seconds. He has promised his next opponent, Adekanola, a similar treatment, saying the fight will be a continuation of his march to stardom within one year.

“What I did to Terrible is what I’ll do to Spirit, who will become a ghost of himself within one round. My ambition is to be a big star within one year and begin to plan how to dominate in West Africa and Africa. I have what it takes and that will show in my next fight and the ones after,” bragged the youngster.

He added that he also has his eyes on the N1million cash prize for the best boxer at that event, saying he is confident of beating big-names boxers scheduled to fight at the event to the prize.

Among those who will be in contention is two-time winner of the award and West African Boxing Union (WABU) welterweight champion, Rilwan “Babyface” Babatunde, who is billed to fight Eden Biki of Ghana in the headline bout at the event. Also on the card is African Boxing Union (ABU) lightweight champion and three-time winner, Oto “Joe Boy” Joseph, who will fight Tope “Berinja” Agboola in a national challenge duel. Two previous winners, Taiwo “Esepo” Agbaje, national featherweight champion, and Waidi “Skoro” Usman, a former African Boxing Union (ABU) featherweight champion, will go head-to-head in national challenge duel. Other fights Kazeem “The Light” Oliwo  vsTope “TP Rock” Musa,Akeem “Sugar Boy” Olaiwola vs Waheed “Showmax” Shogbamu and two all-female bouts, featuring Rodiat Yusuf vs Rodiat Ibrahim and Adedeji Abiodun vs Cynthia Ogunsemilore.

…Female Boxers Thank Sponsors for Selection

The four female professional boxers billed to fight at GOtv Boxing Night 19 have commended event sponsors for bringing back female boxers to the event, which will hold on 14 July at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos.

The boxers, Mariam Yusuf, Rodiat Yusuf, Cynthia Ogunsemilore and Adedeji Abiodun, have been selected would  join the cast of male boxers billed to fight at the event. While Mariam and Rodiat are scheduled to face each other in a four-round national bantamweight challenge duel, Cynthia and Adedeji will be in action for the same number of rounds in the super featherweight division.

Speaking after their training in Lagos, the boxers thanked the sponsors for giving female boxers the opportunity to be part of the event and promised to justify their inclusion in the fight line-up by being at their best.

Cynthia, who is highly regarded on the circuit, said she was especially delighted that female boxers had been considered, “as many of our colleagues will now begin to have the hope that women are not being overlooked.

“I saw female boxers fight at two editions of GOtv Boxing Night and I thought there would be more. But it did not happen, which made many female boxers unhappy. We are now excited that female boxers have been brought back and our plan is to ensure that more female boxers are featured. That is why we have to do our best to earn the trust of the sponsors and organisers, who have been good for Nigerian boxing, and show that we are as good as our male counterparts.”

Mariam, Rodiat and Adedeji echoed the same sentiments, with all of them vowing to show their worth at the event. The two all-female bouts raise the number of fights for the event to nine. 

Seven of these are male bouts, with the biggest being the international welterweight challenge duel between West African Boxing Union (WABU) champion, Rilwan “Baby Face” Babatunde and Ghana’s Eden Biki. The last female at the event was the clash between Ghana’s Gifty “Tiger” Ankrah and Nigeria’s Helen Johnson at GOtv Boxing Night 3.  

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