Boxing in Nigeria

Boxing in Nigeria

A proud fighting nation

The sport of boxing originated from a hand to hand struggle from the primaeval civilizations of Egypt, Greece, and Rome. The game later extended to Nigeria through the help of Douglas Collister, who was a manager at the United Africa Company. Then the nation began to make limitless efforts in establishing the national body and the amateur team by creating a national identity through the association.

Nigeria Boxing Federation is the national body in Nigeria that is founded to handle and administer all the activities of boxing within the nation. It is affiliated to the Nigeria Olympic Committee, Lagos, and is a member of World Boxing, the international federation based in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Nigerian Boxing Federation has been greatly involved in series of National Team competitions as well as international competitions. The Federation organized a National Open Boxing Championships in 2013 that hosted many team boxers from different states across the nation at Brai Ayonote Boxing Complex, National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos Nigeria.

Some professional boxers in the country have represented Nigeria Boxing Federation in different local and international tournaments. An example is the 11th edition of All Africa Games when a trusted 12-man boxing team from Nigeria were selected to represent the country.

In 2017, the Nigeria Boxing Federation organized open national trials for club and team boxers from across the nation at Brai Ayonote Gymnasium of the National Stadium, Lagos to enable the Federation to select 32 boxers in the 56kg, 60kg, 75kg and 81kg male weight category, and 51kg, 60kg, 69kg and 75kg for female weight category that represent the country at the 21st Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast 2018, which is an international multi-sports event.

Many of the Nigerian boxing professionals that emerged from the boxing federation of Nigeria are international champions today who represent the country in a very dynamic way in most international Commonwealth Games as well as national tournaments.