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Injury stops Ekundayo’s ABU title defence against Tanzania’s Mundi

By Alex Monye
03 June 2016   |   3:11 am
Nigeria’s African Boxing Union Champion, Larry Ekundayo, has pulled out of his scheduled title defence against Tanzanian boxer, Saidi Mundin this Saturday because of injury. 
Nigerian-born Larry Ekundayo, nicknamed “The

Larry Ekundayo (right) attacks Frenchman, Howard Cospolite, during a recent fight at the York Hall, London. Ekundayo has deferred his ABU title defence against Tanzania’s Saidi Mundin due to injury.

Nigeria’s African Boxing Union Champion, Larry Ekundayo, has pulled out of his scheduled title defence against Tanzanian boxer, Saidi Mundin this Saturday because of injury.

The ABU Champion injured his hands during training in preparation for the fight billed to hold In London this weekend. After much media hype has been created ahead of the fight, Ekundayo stated that he was not happy over the unexpected injury.

According to a release made available to The Guardian, Ekundayo said from his London base, “I am disappointed that I am not fighting this Saturday after all the training I went through. I was looking forward to winning the fight to assist lift the nation’s standard in sports. My success in the fight would have helped me continue to climb up in the world rankings. I wanted to take up the challenge to fight, but my team decided that I couldn’t take the risk to fight with such an injury.”

Ekundayo’s manager, Ben Gray, also said:  “Ekundayo is a great boxer, but even he can’t fight the Tanzanian boxer with only one hand! Ekundayo carries the hopes of a nation on his back and it would not be right to send him to battle without giving him the best opportunity of victory.”

Ekundayo will be out of action for six to eight weeks to allow his hand heal. When the injury heals, the bout will be rescheduled later in the year.

The boxer’s Special Advisor, Bimbo Folayan added, “This is a very big loss to Larry considering the amount of time and effort he has put in to defend his title. I know Nigerians will support Ekundayo and join me in cheering him when he returns to the ring.”

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