Date: 2019-08-27

Ilorin, Kwara State is one of the cities that have given Nigeria many international boxing champions. From Hogan 'Atomic Bomb' Jimoh to Joe Lasisi, the Afonja city has lived up to its reputation as the land of heroes. And so it is not out of place that aspiring boxers from across the country have chosen the ancient city to launch their career in the sweet science.

From tomorrow, boxing administrators, coaches, referees, and judges, as well as young boxers will be in the city for the first edition of GOtv Boxing NextGen Search to hold outside the Southwest geo-political zone.

The two-day programme, aimed at discovering young amateur boxers ready to turn professional, begins tomorrow at the Indoor Sports Hall of the Kwara State Stadium Complex, Ilorin. Expected to participate are boxers aged between 18 and 25, who will engage in sparring sessions supervised by some of the country's best boxing coaches.

According to the Chairman, Kwara State Amateur Boxing Association, Ahmed Musa, boxers in the state and neighbouring cities are excited that the programme will hold in Ilorin, which has prompted his association with photocopy forms after exhausting those sent by the organisers, Flykite Productions.

Musa stated the GOtv Boxing NextGen Search would help revive boxing in Nigeria and re-establish the prominence of the sport in Kwara State.

Similar sentiments were expressed by former Kwara State Chief Boxing Coach and current Vice-Chairman, Kwara State Boxing Referees and Judges Association, Mr. Afolabi Olatoke, who said young boxers in the state had waited for the kind of opportunity offered by GOtv Boxing NextGen Search and are thrilled that it has finally come to them. He stated that members of many boxing clubs have registered and are waiting for the programme to kick off.

Boxers selected during the programme will have their professional boxing licenses and pre-licensing medical examinations paid for by the sponsors. The first two editions of the programme held in Lagos, while the last two held in Ibadan and Abeokuta respectively.