- You’re a coward, Real One taunts Joseph
African Boxing Union (ABU) lightweight champion, Oto “Joe Boy” Joseph, has warned his challenger and West African Boxing Union champion, Rilwan “Real One” Oladosu, to expect something worse than hell when they clash at GOtv Boxing Night 20 on October 12 for the ABU title in the weight division.
The bout, slated for the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos, is the biggest of the eight encounters billed to hold at the event. A thick flood of bad blood is flowing between both boxers, who are rated the best in the division locally and internationally, a situation for which analysts have dubbed the contest “fight of the decade”.
In an interview at his training base in Lagos on Wednesday, Joe Boy said he was motivated to severely punish Real One for all the insults he had publicly hurled at him. He also denied his challenger’s claims of serial victories over him during their time in the amateur ranks.
“I’m really prepared for this fight because I know it’s a very big fight for me. Rilwan was there before me, but I have leapfrogged him.
“He has been claiming that he defeated me before but even the fight that he said he won, I was robbed. How could someone be fighting three rounds and they were watching the time at 1 minute 30 seconds? So, I’m really prepared. Over the 12 rounds that we are scheduled to fight, he will be in a place worse than hell and that is if he lasts the distance. I’m going to beat him black and blue on that day,” boasted Joe Boy.
The WABU champion has never shied from talking up his chances and insulting Joe Boy at every opportunity, including at press conferences, where they almost came to blows; GOtv Boxing Night 18 venue as well in radio and television interviews.
He is unwavering in his belief that he defeated Joe Boy in the amateur cadre and believes that he was well placed to inflict a first professional defeat on the champion and wrest the ABU title from him. Most boxing analysts and fans believe that there is little to choose between both boxers, who have seen off local and international opponents almost without fuss. While Joe Boy is rated as having better punching power, Real One is viewed as one with sufficient guile to neutralise the champion’s menace.
Analysts have put the upcoming fight in the same category as the fierce 80s rivalries featuring Hogan Jimoh versus Dele Jonathan, both deceased; and Joe Lasisi versuss Jerry Okorodudu.
Meanwhile, Oladosu, has launched a fresh verbal attack on Joseph ahead of their ABU title bout at GOtv Boxing Night 20.
Speaking after his training at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos last Saturday, Real One described Joe Boy as a coward and boxer with limited ability. He boasted that he will expose the ABU champion’s limitations in brutal fashion.
“I know him very well. He is my boy; I know what he can do and what he can’t. He relies on raw power. He has no boxing brain. But raw power can only work against low-grade boxers. I’m not in that category. The ABU title is for me. His limited ability has taken him as far as it can. It is the end of the road for him on 12 October,” bragged Real One, who has serially claimed to have defeated Joe Boy in their amateur days.
Real One’s verbal offensive is the latest trail of bad blood between both boxers, who are considered the best in their division. They have had to be pulled apart at press conferences and GOtv Boxing Night 18, where Real One never failed to taunt Joe Boy, who also always responded.
The event will also stage the national bantamweight challenge between Sadiq Adeleke and Opeyemi Adeyemi. Also scheduled to be in action are Rilwan Babatunde, WABU welterweight champion, who takes on Jafaru Sulaimon; Ridwan Oyekola, national super featherweight champion, who fights Sikiru Shogbesan; Tope Musa and Adewale Masebinu, national light heavyweight champion, who faces Kabiru Towolawi in a rematch.
Two debutants, Alaba Omotola and Bolaji Abdullahi, both graduates of GOtv Boxing NextGen Search, will also be in action in addition to an all-female bout featuring Cynthia Ogunsemilore and Aminat Yekini.
