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By Peter Akinbo
It was a night of thrilling knockouts and fierce battles at the West African Boxing Union fight night hosted by the De-Lads Boxing Promotion at the Molade Okoya-Thomas indoor sports Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium on Sunday in Lagos.
In the main event, knockout specialist Farouq Abubakar stopped Abolaji ‘Afonja Warrior’ Rasheed in the fourth round of their bout via a TKO win. This victory earned him the prestigious title of the new WABU super-middleweight champion.
National super-featherweight champion Sikiru Shogbesan also made a powerful statement by stopping Mutiu Lawal in the third round through another TKO after Lawal decided not to continue the fight complaining of a low blow which the referee did not accept.
In a thrilling eight-round super-welterweight bout, Abdulafeez Osoba delivered a knockout in the third round, earning him the win against Kazeem ‘De Killer’ Lawal. The crowd at the Teslim Balogun erupted at the sight of the devastating knockout as they watched Lawal stumble and fall as he tried to regain his footing several times.
To emerge as the new national super-lightweight champion, Segun Adeyemi stole the show by knocking out Samuel ‘Apataroro’ Moses in the first round during De-Lad’s Boxing undercard fight.
In a six-round cruiserweight challenge, Animasahu ‘Rotor’ Jamiu emerged victorious with a unanimous decision, defeating Idowu Okusote.
The super-lightweight challenge bout between Yusuf ‘Hungry Lion’ Ogunbunmi and Kabiru ‘KB Sniper’ Salawu ended in a Majority Draw, keeping the fans on the edge of their seats for the entire six rounds as both fighters went blow-for-blow.
Afolabi Shittu made an impact by forcing Sheriff Kareem to retire in his corner after the end of the second round during their intense super-flyweight challenge bout, while Akanji Moruf showcased his skills and determination, securing a unanimous victory after eight rounds in the super-featherweight clash against Jamiu Akande.
In the light-welterweight clash between Taye Fajimi and Solomon Adeyeri, Fajimi emerged victorious with a unanimous decision result from the judges after the six rounds.
Renowned boxing promoter, Wasiu Alade, said his outfit, De-Lads Boxing Promotion, would continue to help both amateur and professional fighters achieve their full potential in boxing.
Alade said his decision to organise both amateur and professional boxing simultaneously was to encourage boxers at all levels, noting that the decision had made him the promoter to beat in the country.
“At De-Lads Boxing Promotion, we give equal opportunities to both amateur and professional fighters and it has really helped in the development of the game. Prior to our coming on board, we discovered that many boxers don’t fight at the amateur level before joining the paid ranks, which does not help their game,” he said.