Slumped against the ropes

By Ifeanyi Ibeh

October 3, 2010 02:58AM

Boxing, the noble art of self-defence, was at some point in time in Nigeria the undisputed king of sports. It had immense following among the populace and boxers, especially the successful ones among them, enjoyed cult followership from fans who just couldn't get enough of them.



In addition, there were others who opted for the professional ranks and dominated their respective weight categories. These included the legendary duo of Hogan ‘Kid' Bassey and Richard Ihetu, more popularly known as Dick Tiger.

Both fighters didn't rest on their achievements within the Commonwealth. They extended their dominance beyond this radius and ended up becoming undisputed world champions, Bassey at featherweight and Tiger in both the middleweight and light heavyweight classes.

Bassey, who back in 1950 at the age of 18, and still in high school, became the youngest boxer to win the national flyweight title, achieved his world title feat back in 1957 when he defeated Cherif Hamia, a French-Algerian in Paris and went on to defend the title twice before losing it two years later to America's David Moore, in a fight that turned out to be his last. He quit professional boxinga afterwards.

For his part, Tiger became world champion in 1962. He claimed the then vacant WBA middleweight title after defeating Gene Fullmer over 15 rounds in a bout decided in San Francisco, California.

He held on to the title until December 1963 when he lost on points to Joey Giardello but reclaimed it, along with the WBC title, two years later with a 15 round unanimous decision victory over Giardello.

He lost both titles to Emile Griffith in April 1966 and thereafter stepped up to the light heavyweight category and by May of the following year stopped Roger Rouse in the 12th round to become the WBC and WBA light heavyweight champion of the world.

The nearly men

Besides Bassey, who died in 1998, and Tiger, who died in 1971 at the age of 42 - a year after his retirement from the sport, Nigeria also produced other world champions such as the Owerri-born Herbert Maduagwu, better known as Herbie Hide, and the Lagos-born Henry Akinwande who both temporarily held the WBO equivalent of the heavyweight crown at separate times in the 90s.

In recent times, Samuel Peter has joined the growing list of Nigerians to have won a world title after he claimed the WBC world heavyweight title in 2008, and there's also Segun Ajose who is the current Commonwealth light welterweight champion.

Success hasn't been limited to the professional ranks alone. The country has also produced champions in the amateur cadre such as Eddie Ndukwu, a two-time Commonwealth gold medallist in the bantamweight and featherweight categories; Nojeem Maiyegun, who won Nigeria's first Olympic medal at the 1964 Games in Tokyo; Isaac Ikhuoria, who won a bronze medal at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich; and Davidson Andeh, who became world champion at the 1978 World Boxing Championships in Belgrade.

Peter Konyegwachie also won a silver medal at the Los Angeles ‘84 Olympics, a feat that was replicated eight years later at the Barcelona Olympics by the duo of David Izorintei and Richard Ibenegu, while Duncan Dokiwari won a bronze at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

Disasters and near disasters

But it hasn't been all smooth sailing as a lot of Nigerian boxers have seen their campaigns ending in disappointments as was the case with Obisia Nwankpa, who lost to WBC light welterweight champion Saoul Mamby in a title bout decided at the National Stadium, Lagos. So was the case with Joe Lasisi, who lost a shot at the WBA light heavyweight crown, along with his unbeaten record, when he suffered a 7th round knockout loss to Virgil Hill in North Dakota in May 1989.

At the moment Nigerian boxers particularly those in the amateur ranks have become cannon fodder for their opponents in international sporting competitions. Worse still, is the state of facilities were these boxers are trained. They are decrepit and so outdated that it is amazing that they have not been phased out.

And that appears to be what lies in the horizon for boxing in Nigeria unless, in the opinion of respected boxing coach Joe Mensah, certain things are put in place.

"There must be conducive atmosphere for sponsors to come in. Where it concerns government is for them to put facilities in place. But, as at today there is no facility for boxing across the country, and the administrators are comfortable with the situation," Mensah told a local newspaper.

"We really need the Federal Government to do more for boxing to develop in the country. The sport is going down by the day. The administrators should endeavour to build boxing gymnasiums in the geo-political zones in the country. With that the sport would go places."