The Majority Leader of the Federal House of Representatives Prof. Julius Ihonvbere has extolled the President of the Boxing Promoters Association of Nigeria (BPAN) Omonlei Yakubu Imadu, for his strides in developing boxing in Nigeria.
Ihonvbere, who was a special guest at the recently held Yucateco boxing Pan-African title fight in Uzebba, Owan West Local Government Area of Edo State, said Imadu’s model on grassroots boxing development should be embarrassed at the at the State and Federal level.
” i believe this young man deserves all the support he could get both at the start and federal level, what he’s doing with amateur boxing has never been done before either at the private or government level”.
” the Yucateco boxing league is the first and only boxing league in Nigeria as we speak, and having just an individual financing its operations says a lot on his commitment towards empowering the youth through sports”.
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The erudite legislator who have initiated several grassroots Youth empowerment programs, futher stated that only those with the passion and commitment should be allowed to run sports in Nigeria.
” if we must truly develop our sports, I believe it’s time we pay attention to the quality of persons running the respective sports Federations in the country, we must be the lookout for those with the requisite knowledge and commitment across all the sports federations and support them to drive the progress we so desire”.
Nigeria’s Abdulwahab Abdulrahman and Precious Anine defeated Egypt’s Hagar Elsayed and Mostafa Hafez in the male and female category of the Yucateco boxing Pan-African title fight in Uzebba on Friday.