Wait Skoro Usman is one of the big time winners at the GOtv Boxing Night series. He is both the national and West African featherweight champion. In this interview, Usman spoke on how the GOtv Boxing Night series turned him into a state. Excerpts:
You are the national and West African featherweight champion. Have you achieved your ambitions?
Those titles represent only the starting point. While I am happy to hold the two titles, my ultimate ambition is to become the world champion in my category and I have been receiving huge encouragement from GOtv Boxing Night and Flykite Promotions and I believe I will realise the ambition.
You want to conquer the world, but you were defeated last December. You lost the chance to win the African title to Uganda’s Edward Kakembo at GOtv Boxing Night 5….
Kakembo won fair and square. He is not better than me, but won because I was ill a few weeks to the fight and I did not recover well enough. He wouldn’t have stood a chance if I wasn’t ill. I hope to fight him again and he will know the stuff I’m made of. The loss to Kakembo was the second of my entire professional career and I have vowed never to lose again. If you were at GOtv Boxing Night 8, where I won N1 million as the best boxer, it would be obvious to you that I am back in peak condition.
You were once well known around Ajegunle, where you are called Oosha (idol). Now, your name is chanted by fans whenever they see you….
That is what GOtv Boxing Night has done not just for me, but for many other boxers. Before GOtv Boxing Night started, we were only known in our areas and around the National Stadium. But now, Nigerians are again watching boxing, especially at GOtv Boxing Night. Those who don’t come to the stadium watch live on SuperSport, so we are seen by more people. They know me, they know Fijabi, Joe Boy, Afonja, Eribo, Lagelu and many others. It is because they see our fights at the stadium or watch it on television that we have become household names. I’m thrilled when they chant my name because it means they enjoy what I do and I do not want to disappoint them.
What kind of person is Skoro?
Skoro is an easy-going, God-fearing person, who likes hip-hop music and enjoys amala a lot.
How can you claim to be an easy-going person and be a boxer at the same time?
Very easy. Boxers are not thugs; they are sportsmen guided by rules of the sport. It is a combat sport alright, but we are not violent people. So, I am easy-going.