Jenkins Alumona, Managing Director/CEO of Flykite Productions, organisers of GOtv Boxing Night, has explained why Ilorin was chosen as host city for the fifth edition of GOtv Boxing NextGen Search.
Alumona, who spoke in Lagos on Thursday, said his organization decided to have Ilorin host the programme, which seeks to find young boxers good enough for the professional cadre, because boxing administrators in other parts of the country demanded that it should be taken round.
Kwara State, Alumona noted, also has a strong association with the sport, dating back to the days of Joe Ray Amao, Lasisi, Victor Oseni and the late Hogan Jimoh, something he said accounts for the popularity of the sport in the state.
“We’ve had four editions, two in Lagos and one each in Ibadan and Abeokuta. We have been receiving requests from boxing associations and boxing clubs in other cities to bring the programme over. We are happy that it is going to Kwara State, which has produced top boxers and where the sport enjoys popularity. We hope to find as many good boxers as we can,” he said.
GOtv Boxing NextGen Search 5 will hold on 29 and 30 August at the Kwara Stadium Complex, Ilorin. The programme, which began in 2015, is open to boxers between the ages of 18 and 25. They are expected to to take part in sparring sessions for assessment by top coaches, who will also nurture them. Boxers selected at the programme will have their professional licences and comprehensive medical examination paid for by the sponsors in addition to the possibility of fighting at coming editions of GOtv Boxing Night.
Registration forms for the programme are available for free at the Nigerian Boxing Board of Control (NBB of C) Secretariat and the Lagos Boxing Hall of Fame Gym, both in Lagos; Kwara Stadium Complex, Judges and Referees Office in Ilorin, Akure Township Stadium, Akure and Alake Sports Centre, Abeokuta.
Over 100 boxers from across the country attended each of the previous editions.