LAGOS – Two boxing pundits on Monday called for more involvement of female boxers in the annual Lagos State Governor’s Boxing Belt tournament.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the belt, which comes-up every Boxing Day, ON dEC. 26, is in honour of the sitting governor of Lagos State.
The 2014 belt will serve as a farewell bout to the outgoing Gov. Babatunde Fashola, whose tenure ends in 2015.
Speaking on the 2014 event slated for the Tesilm Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Remi Aboderin, a boxing manager, said that the inclusion of more female boxers in the competition would enhance its spectatorship.
“With more female boxers in such a tournament on Boxing Day, a lot of people will like to come to the stadium to watch, as the sight of a female boxer in the ring is more spectacular.
“The Belt is an eight-bout event with only a bout for the female class; it will be more appealing if the female class have up to three bouts in the belt,’’ he said.
Aboderin charged the organisers to widen their scope and groom more female boxers for the tournament in subsequent editions, as a means of encouraging people to relax during the holidays.
Ogbu Osondu, a board member of the Nigeria Boxing Federation (NBF), said that female boxers usually attracted more interest in boxing.
“If we want to encourage more female boxers to stardom, as being touted by some states, this kind of event should have been the bedrock to promote such idea.
According to him, there is a dearth of the female category in the country and the best way to encourage them is to enlist them in events like this. (NAN)