*Craves corporate support for pugilist game
By; AYO OJEDOKUN, Lagos
A boxing promoter and manager, Olusola Ayodele Ford has commended the leadership of Nigerian Boxing Board of Control (NBB of C ) for taking professional boxing to a new level in the country, describing the just concluded seminar organised by the boxing body as a noble idea.
He told our correspondent that the President of NBB of C, Dr. Rafiu Ladipo and his secretary, Remi Aboderin deserve special commendation for their role in reviving the sports even as he assured that promoters will partner with them to ensure the country regains it’s domineering role in the game.
” I must have to commend the present leadership of the board for all they’re doing to ensure that Nigeria professional boxing is on another page and everybody is now imbibing Ladipo’s message of ‘drop the gun and pick the gloves’.
” The just concluded seminar is commendable because it afforded boxers, coaches and managers to be abreast with the most modern rules of the game and their relationship amongst each other and we look forward to having more of such seminars in future”, he stressed.
On how to further move the sports forward, Ford whose boxer, Ridwan ‘Scorpion’ Oyekola is making waves in Japan; having won all his four fights believes that if sponsors can invest half of what they put in football into boxing, Nigeria will become the second Las Vegas of world boxing.
” We have a lot of talented boxers in this country and we promoters are doing our best to ensure they become world champions but we need the support of corporate Nigeria to make it happen. I can tell you that if we have half of the sponsorship football is getting, Nigeria will become the second Las Vegas of World boxing.
He also announced that there are plans for his boxer, Scorpion to have a mega fight in the United States before the end of this year just as he announced that he has other boxers doing well in the Asian country.
