Participants at the GOtv Boxing Seminar have commended the organisers for making the event richly rewarding for professional boxers and managers.
Dr. Rafiu Ladipo, the President-General of the Nigeria Football and Other Sports Supporters Club, who was a discussant at the event, also praised GOtv for the initiative, which he described as long overdue.
The seminar came as part of the preparations for the second edition of GOtv Boxing Night, a six-fight professional tournament, slated for March 15 at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos.
With a focus on how boxers and managers can get the best out of their trade, the seminar featured an accomplished line-up of speakers made up of boxing legends, administrators, journalists and a doctor.
The first topic of discussion focused on how boxers should manage their image.
Effiong Nyom, a sports journalist, assisted by Jenkins Alumona of Flykite Productions, counseled that boxers need to obey the rules of the society as they apply to every member.
Nyom advised boxers to shun drugs and other anti-social conduct so they could be well perceived by other members of the society.
He similarly advised that they needed to get jobs so as to be less dependent on the charity of family and friends.
On his part, Alumona counselled that boxers needed to be more disciplined, as discipline is a requirement for success.
He also warned against shabby dressing, which he said greatly contributes to the negative perception of boxers.
Scribe of the Nigerian Boxing Board of Control, Remi Aboderin, who spoke on: “Managing your boxing career,” advised boxers against frittering their earnings from the ring so they could save for the rainy day.
Aboderin also urged them to acquire other skills to which they may turn when they are no longer in active boxing.
Mensah, who was lavish in his praise for the organisers, said such seminar was long overdue and will go a long way in making boxers and managers improve in their respective fields.
He advised boxers to have key professionals manage their career so they could rise to the top.
These professionals, he said, include a good coach, manager, sports medicine expert, promoter, nutritionist and image maker.
“GOtv has come at the right time,” he said.
Boxing legends, Obisia Nwakpa and Joe Lasisi, spoke on boxer/manager relationship.
They advised managers to act as father figures to their boxers and ensure they do not stray from the path of good conduct.
Nwakpa, however, was critical of the country’s boxing managers, dismissing them as inadequate.
Both, however, commended GOtv for the initiative.
The discussions, which featured question and answers in between, rounded off with a presentation on safety in the ring.
Dr. Chike Ilukwe of the NBB of C, warned boxers against getting into the ring when ill, beyond the age of 38 and highlighted steps that doctors take to ensure that only fit boxers get into the ring. He, however, advised boxers against lying about their health status just to get fights.
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