A burden of debts pushed dead Nigerian boxer, Segun Olanrewaju, to the fatal fight

Reports from Nigerian publication, The Punch, have revealed that Nigerian boxer, Segun Olanrewaju who collapsed and died in the ring on Saturday fought in defiance of the decision of the Nigeria Boxing Board of Control (NBB of C).

According to the publication, the Secretary-General, of NBB of C, Remi Aboderin, said that the boxing body permitted Olanrewaju to fight on Friday, but the bout was cancelled.

 According to Aboderin, the late pugilist then decided to fight the next day so he could make some money to clear his debts back home.

“Segun got our approval to fight in Ghana, a fight that was proposed to take place on a Friday. Unfortunately, they did weigh in on Thursday and he was found to be overweight and they told him the person he was to fight was not his weight.

“They said to do this, they would increase his purse with another $500, which he said was too small, and due to that, there was no agreement.”

Aboderin further revealed that another Nigerian fought that Friday night.

“Saturday morning, they were on their way back to Lagos, they had even left Accra and were at Aflao border when Segun said to the coach that followed him,  Diran Alamu, that it was not going to be easy returning home; he left Nigeria with no money and he had debts to pay and needed money.

 So, he wanted to call the Ghanaians and see if another fight was coming up and told them he was now ready to collect the additional $500 as discussed because he felt it would not pay him if he returned home without money.

“So, they called the matchmaker, who informed him that there was a fight on Saturday night and that they could put the fight for that Saturday, but we didn’t give him the approval for that, and this is where the GBA (Ghana Boxing Association) erred. So, he turned back and went back to Ghana because he needed the money; he owed a lot of people money,” the NBB of C secretary added.

Coach Babatunde Ojo, who trained Olanrewaju, told The PUNCH that he advised the boxer against fighting on short notice.

“He (Olanrewaju) told me they gave him a fight last week. After he informed me, I told him, ‘the fight was on short notice, you are not training and you want to go, you can’t go, leave this fight for a better offer,’” Ojo told The PUNCH.

“He initially told me the fight was on April 1, but he called later to say it was no longer next month but on March 29.

“So, I told him that it was at short notice but if he wanted us to go together, he should tell the organisers to book flights so we could go there and come back together. He called them and when he got back to me, he said they told him they would get him a car that would take him to Ghana. I said no, that’s not possible. So, he knew I didn’t want him to go.

“After that, he called me and said that they (NBBofC) had given him a release letter (for the fight). I didn’t hear from him afterwards, so I called him. He said he had been called again for the fight and was going that night. I told him, ‘Success, don’t you think this fight is too early?’ He said he would call me back. The next time I called him, he said he was on his way (to Ghana), and he didn’t call me because he knew I wouldn’t allow him to go. That was why he didn’t tell me. He is an adult, so I could not stop him.

“Now we have this situation, these are the things I advise my boxers against; you can’t pick a fight at short notice, you need at least one month. I am very saddened by his loss; may his soul rest in peace,” Ojo added.