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By Peter Akinbo
Technical Director, Yucateco Boxing League, Babatunde Laguda, has said the just-ended female boxing championship was organised to discover young female boxers in Nigeria.
Some of the best female pugilists in the country were in attendance as the organisers of the first-ever boxing league in Nigeria, Yucateco Boxing Promotions, staged an all-female boxing invitational championship at its headquarters in Ikorodu, Lagos State.
One of the key points of the event was the show of grit between Aishat Gbadamosi and Shakirat Kareem, which was a repeat of their challenge in Ibadan in Season One of the league.
Though she lost to her opponent, Gbadamosi believes the all-female championship has exposed her to a new level in boxing as she dreams of greater opportunities.
“This is a dream come true for me, I learnt a lot from the championship and I hope to continue to improve with subsequent opportunities, I want to say thanks to Yucateco for giving spring to our careers.”
Speaking on the event, Laguda said, “We hope to build on the successes recorded in this edition, we saw some of these girls at the boxing league and we thought it wise to give them a more centered platform to express themselves.
“We have seen several talented boxers from this event and I must tell you the future is very bright for these girls.”
Driven by passion to foster the growth of boxing across gender and age categories in Nigeria, CEO Yucateco Boxing Promotions Omonlei Imadu hopes to encourage more female participation in the second season of the league, which is scheduled for for the second quarter of 2024.
“What we have done is a qualification championship for these young female pugilists to grab a ticket to compete in Season 2 of the Yucateco Boxing League. This event has helped us discover those good enough to compete at the league level in May,” Imadu said.
