The Nigerian Boxing Board of Control and the Nigeria Boxing Federation are heading for a turf war over the control of professional boxing in Nigeria, with the NBBofC insisting it has regulated the sport since 1949 while the NBF argues it is backed by law to oversee all forms of boxing in the country, Saturday PUNCH reports.
This follows announcements by the NBF that it intends to launch professional boxing under its framework as part of sweeping reforms aimed at protecting boxers’ welfare and ensuring transparency.
The NBF, through Chairman of its Marketing Committee Azania Omo-Agege, had announced plans to integrate professional boxing into its structure to properly manage and protect boxers.
Omo-Agege expressed concern over the frequent loss of Nigerian boxers to foreign professional promoters after major competitions, saying the government spends money training boxers only for promoters to “reap where they did not sow.”
NBBofC President Dr Rafiu Oladipo told Saturday PUNCH that the board, which has regulated professional boxing in Nigeria for over seven decades, will not allow any encroachment.
“Ever since 1949, there has been the Nigeria Boxing Board of Control that has been in charge of professional boxing in Nigeria. Our first president was Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe,” Oladipo said.
“And ever since, we have been practising professional boxing as is the norm in other countries of the world.”
Oladipo explained that amateur boxing, which involves competitions like the Olympics, African Games and Commonwealth Games, is different from professional boxing.
“An amateur boxer can graduate to become a professional, just like Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and our own Anthony Joshua, who all went to the Olympics before turning pro. But they are separate organisations all over the world,” he added.
The NBBofC president insisted his board has not encroached into amateur boxing and does not intend to, adding that both bodies can work together through partnership.
“We are not angry with them. We believe that what they are doing, we can do together by partnering to give Nigeria a befitting positive image in boxing,” Oladipo said.
NBBofC secretary-general Remi Aboderin echoed similar sentiments, emphasising that the board has been running professional boxing affairs without government funding.
“The Nigeria Boxing Federation is funded by the government. We are not funded by the government. We have been running professional boxing affairs independently since 1949,” Aboderin told Saturday PUNCH.
“A decision cannot just be made to take over the Nigerian Boxing Board of Control. They are not members of our board. They run the affairs of amateur boxing. We have not encroached on that. They should run their affairs, let us run our affairs.”
Aboderin also cited the model used in Britain, where amateur and professional boxing are regulated by separate bodies, with England Boxing overseeing amateur boxing while the British Boxing Board of Control handles professional boxing affairs.
However, Omo-Agege maintained that the Nigeria Boxing Federation is backed by an act of law by the National Assembly and are the custodians of boxing in Nigeria.
“Boxing covers all kinds of boxing. Without amateur boxing, there would be no professional boxing,” Omo-Agege told Saturday PUNCH.
“The NBBofC has a right as a private company to run pro boxing just as the NBF has a right to run its own boxing arm. Nobody gave the exclusive right to the NBBofC to run professional boxing; it’s open to anyone who is interested. The NBF are the ones who groom the boxers with taxpayers’ money, so they should be able to protect them and guide them properly for their future progress.”
NBBofC public relations officer Effiong Nyong stressed the fundamental differences between professional and amateur boxing.
“Professional boxing is completely different from amateur boxing. Professional boxers work with different professional bodies around the world, like the World Boxing Council, World Boxing Association, whose rules are not subject to amateur sport,” Nyong told our correspondent.
“We are the only sanctioning body for professional boxing in Nigeria. We have our relationship with the WBC and other professional boxing organisations around the world. It is the NBBofC that they recognise and have been working with throughout the years.”
Omo-Agege, however, criticised the NBBofC’s dual role as both a sanctioning body and manager of boxers.
“The NBBofC is a sanctioning body. They have no right to manage boxers whom they sign to ridiculous contracts that don’t favour the boxers. This is a serious case of conflict of interest whereby the outcome of events is compromised,” he said.
The NBF official also referred to the rule change implemented in 2016, which enables pro boxers to compete in the Olympics, crediting this as giving the NBF the right to have their pro boxing arm.
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