Ugochukwu Iwuchukwu
The first Rivers Open Boxing Championship will take centre stage this week in Port Harcourt.
The competition is the brainchild of the Rivers State Amateur Boxing Association.
Boxing promoter and a member of the Rivers State Amateur Boxing Association John Sekibo popularly known as BigJohn said the competition was aimed at unearthing new talents for the state.
BigJohn said Rivers State was a powerhouse of boxing in the country and stated that the time is right to revive the sports in the state.
John Sekibo noted that boxers like Friday Amunaya and Duncan Dokiwari who won a bronze medal at the 1996 Olympic games were all discovered in Rivers State.
”This competition is designed to first of all discover, groom and expose young talents. Don’t forget that Rivers State used to be the hub of boxing producing both national and international champions like Duncan Dokiwari who won a bronze medal at the 1996 Olympic games in Atalanta is from Kalabari tribe in Rivers State”.
”Also Friday Amunaya was also a heavyweight champion winning the North America boxing federation heavyweight title, it may interest you to know that that same title was the same belt won by Mohammed Ali many years ago”.
“It is now time to groom boxers, it is now time for the Rivers State government to revive the sports of boxing in the state.
“Even though we have the best gym in the country, the gym has not been well utilized” he said.
He also called on the State Government and other spirited individuals to support the championship.
The three-day championship is scheduled to take place between April 11th-13th at the State Boxing Gym at Niger Street, Port Harcourt.
