By Kemi Ajayi
Lagos – Jerry Okorodudu, a former national boxing coach on Thursday urged the government to provide necessary logistics to support Nigerian boxers excel in the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in Australia.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the boxers are currently camped at the boxing complex of the National Stadium, Surulere in preparation for the Games which holds from April 4 to April 15.
Okorodudu, who represented Nigeria at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games in the Middleweight category, added that the current crop of boxers in camp have the capacity to represent the nation creditably.
“The athletes are already in camp as we all know, but it goes beyond that for them to excel in Gold Coast, because we have to consider some factors.
“Is the atmosphere conducive for the boxers, are they well motivated to bring the best out of them, is there any psychologist on ground to evaluate their mental wellbeing and other factors?
“If all these factors are in place, our boxers are bound to perform well at the Games,” he said.
He advised the boxers to be focused and shun all forms of distraction that could undermine their performance.
NAN reports that 16 out of the 32 boxers earlier invited to camp by the Nigeria Boxing Federation are currently in camp.
Nigeria won 11 gold, 11 silver and 14 bronze medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.