It was a great blend of sports and entertainment at the weekend when the curtains fell on the maiden Yucateco Boxing League. Held at the Yucateco headquarters in Elepe, Igbogbo, Ikorodu, the competition, featured many of the country’s top boxers in search of the ultimate prize.
Hostilities began on the night with a one-sided men’s 51kg class bout, which saw Israel Makinde of Tizimi Boxing Club racing to 5-0 win over Samuel Dahunsi of GGFM Boxing Club.
The 57kg men’s bout between Ijomoni Tobilola of YS Boxing Club and Ifeoluwa Yusuf of Espirita Boxing Club brought the crowd to their feet with plenty of fireworks from both boxers. But at the end, the judges gave the fight to Tobilola on a split decision.
Rasak Erinfolami of GGFM Boxing Club also got the better of Ramadan Abiodun of Tizimi BC with a 3-2 victory in the 57kg category, while Joy Akpan of Tizimi BC defeated Aliya Ganiyu Espirita BC 4-1.
It was a close contest in the 53kg weight class as Oluwaseun Abiodun of YS Rano BC fell to a 3-2 loss against Abdurrahman Abdulwahab of Espita BC. In the other 53kg bout, Shotunbo Michael of GGFM BC also suffered a narrow 3-2 defeat to Bernard Sunday of Tizimi BC.
In the 75kg category, which was the star bout of the night, Lagos State boxing champion, Michael Babalola, gave the crowd plenty to cheer with a dominant 4-1 triumph over Ibrahim Jato of GGFM Boxing Club.
Speaking at the event, national boxing coach, Anthony Konyegwachie, said he spotted some boxers to be invited to the national camp ahead of the 2024 Africa Games.
“I must commend the organisers for putting this together, knowing it’s self-funded recalls the passion Yucateco has to grow boxing in Nigeria.
“I and my team have spotted some good boxers here, and we hope to invite them to the national camp for trials ahead of major international championships like the Africa Games in 2024,” he said.
The chief host of the night, who is also the boss of Yucateco Boxing Promotions, Omolei Imadu Yakubu, said he hopes to take the boxing league beyond the Southwest states.
“We have done Lagos, Ogun, Ondo and Oyo states since we started, but the aim is to take this to every region in Nigeria, as we build up to making it a continental event in the nearest future.
“My aim is to develop the next generation of boxers for Nigeria. Our focus is to ensure boxers from this league represent and win medals for the country at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028,” he said.
The Edo State-born boxing promoter said the final of this season’s league would be staged in Abuja in the first quarter of 2024, adding that the organising committee has already begun preparations for it.
“We are set to take the gospel of boxing to Abuja with style and panache; we want to make celebrities of these boxers with a groundbreaking finale of Season One.
“Boxing fans in Edo should also get ready as we have something planned for the South-South in 2024 as well.” The Yucateco Boxing League was streamed live on Yucateco TV on YouTube with some of the continent’s finest boxing commentary in English and French.
