By Olanrewaju Akojede

Some stakeholders on Monday commended the Lagos State Sports Commission (LSSC) over the successful hosting of the maiden edition of its Individual Boxing Club Championship.

The stakeholders spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of the championship held at Bishop Aggerey Playground, Mushin, Lagos.

The stakeholders include Director-General, LSSC, Lekan Fatodu; Director, Sports Development, LSSC, Travih Nunayon.

Others are Boxing  Promoter and Chairman of Last Boxing Promoters, Wasiu Waheed; and Chairman of Odi-Olowo/Ojuwoye Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Ajala Razak.

Razak said that the various communities within the Mushin environs were ecstatic about the boxing prospects discovered during the one-week competition.

According to him, the poeple believe in the initiative, because it is one of the interventions of the government to identify talents within the streets and to use the platform to project the hidden talents within the communities.

“More importantly that people have erroneous beliefs that nothing good can come out of Mushin, but with this initiative, we can raise the hopes and prove to the world that we have lots of talents,” he said.

NAN reports that the week-long festival of boxing competition, which had 300 boxers in attendance, ended on Sunday, at Bishop Aggerey Playground in Mushin.

Ajala noted that Mushin communities have been blessed with many potential boxers who were on the wings to blossom.

“Mushin in boxing space is blessed with talents who can contribute to the exports from Nigeria and also let the world knows about the peculiarities of Mushin community in boxing.

“There are lots of sporting events that the local government is also doing to complement the efforts of the state government.

“We have lots of programmes; table tennis football boxing and traditional games. It is our strong belief that we want our youths to be responsible and use their talents and energies to productive ventures.

“We want to discourage gangsterism and things that will destroy them by unleashing terror on the communities. This can only be achieved through sports,” the council boss said.

Similarly, Waheed noted that the competition had awaken the sleeping giants of boxing in Mushin communities.

“I want to congratulate the Director General (D-G) of LSSC for this initiative and the event, it has been a long time wish come true for us to havie the competition.

“As member of Boxing Promoters, I am excited that we can hold this competition in Mushin which has awaken the real potentials of Mushin.

“This competition has brought joy to us in identifying more talents within Mushin Communities, this will serve as preparations towards NSF next year.

“Events like this will very soon put Nigeria in the limelight of boxing in Africa and the World because we are ready to do more,” he said.

The boxing promoter added that with abundant talents Mushin community could dominate the world’s amateur and professional.

“If other states can copy this initiative we will have more boxers around,” he said.

Also, Nunayon said that the competition had been able to fulfil its aim and mandate.

He said that the LSSC desired to scout for talents from the competition to beef up its pool of athletes for the Gateway Games.

“We have a total of 356 active boxers that registered, but we have 56 of them who failed the medicals.

“So, we have about 300 in different weight categories, both male and female.

“We have 13 male categories and 10 female category which make up of 14 different categories for the NSF.

“From what we have seen, our hopes are high and we are looking to gain more medals looking at boxing in Lagos State,” he said.

The Director, Sports Development, LSSC, noted that the commission had invited four boxers from each weight categories of those who came first, second, third and fourth to come to camp.

“The camp will be opened for a week to look into their fitness and then we go into close camping.The Transition plan that we have is to monitor the amateur boxers.

“We have different promoters that have been coming; also, we have our in-house counsellors that will guide the young boxers on their career path.

“First of all, we look out for their career and then age and expose their to few competitions and then the Olympics under the amateur category.

“We don’t want to rush them to professional fights. Boxing, to LSSC, is to provide a means of livelihood to the young boxers towards a better living,” Nunayon said.

He added that the news about the gains of the competition had spread across the state, which has necessitated more demands.

“We have call from Ajegunle, Badagry and Lagos Island. The interest are there and also the boxers.

“They have told us how they have been training but with no competition to show their prowess over the years and that this platform is a good avenue to show the stuff they are made of.

“We are looking at the possibility of staging this is competition before the NSF to bridge the gap for the weight categories we are lacking.

“We are looking out for other coaches to keep the boxers in shape. We want to challenge Delta State for the crown next year,” he said.

On his part, Fatodu said that state government was ready to rejuvenate boxing across all Lagos divisions, adding that the purpose of having the event was to rejuvenate the grassroots sports development in the state.

“We have started off the project on a strong note with the identification of boxers in Mushin and we are also targeting other communities in Lagos.

“In other areas, we are looking to source for table tennis players in Isolo and others.We have also realized the need for us to further engage other communities so as to engage in more productive activities.

“We want to help them to harness their hidden talents, so, we will be moving around Lagos State,” he said.

The D-G, LSSC, added that it had been a tremendous achievement in Mushin, as the the commission did not anticipate such a number of entries received for the competition as well as the numbers of different boxing clubs and promoters.

“We are equally amazed at the quality of talents on the display during the competition. It has shown that there are more to gain from different sporting areas.

“So, it is a big one for us identifying talents that will represent the state and Nigeria, locally and internationally.

“We will be going to Badagry, Epe, Agege and others for swimming, cycling and marathon, in series.

“We are engaging the young ones in different types of sports as we want to attract talents in more sporting activities,” he said.

A sports enthusiast and resident of Mushin, also lauded the organisers and the boxers, expressing joy at the braveness of the boxers to come out to display their talents.

“The boxers have really given us something to boast of as talents from Mushin.

“This is the first time I will be watching a live boxing match aside the ones shown on the television. It is an interesting match to watch.

“Boxing, as a sport, is mostly good for youths who have such big energies, like our youths in Mushin,which suggests the reason Lagos State Government staged the fight here.

“Mushin youths are known for big time fights, and now, they can channel their energies to real fight. Kudos to the government for this,” he said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Kamal Tayo Oropo