Babatunde Ojo, coach Segun “Success” Olanrewaju, the boxer who died during a match in Ghana, has told The PUNCH that he advised the boxer against accepting the fight.
Olanrewaju, a former national and West African light-heavyweight champion, lost consciousness during his bout against Ghanaian boxer Jon Mbanugu at Fight Night 15 of the Ghana Professional Boxing League, held at Bukom Boxing Arena on Saturday.
A video of the tragic bout shows Olanrewaju landing two weak punches before Mbanugu countered with a right hand to his face. Moments later, Olanrewaju staggered backward, fell against the ropes and collapsed.
Emergency medical personnel rushed him to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
“He (Olanrewaju) told me they gave him a fight last week. After he informed me, I told him, ‘the fight was at short notice, you are not training and you want to go, you can’t go, leave this fight for a better offer,’” Ojo said.
According to him, Olanrewaju initially mentioned that the fight was scheduled for April 1, but later called to say it had been moved up to 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.”
Ojo recalled that Olanrewaju later informed him that the Nigeria Boxing Board of Control (NBBofC) had issued 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 go. That was why he didn’t tell me. He is an adult, so, I could not stop him.”
Expressing his sadness over the tragic outcome, Ojo added, “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.”
The secretary-general of the NBBofC Remi Aboderin said the boxer was not granted approval for the fight.
According to Aboderin, the 40-year-old boxer was initially scheduled to fight on Friday, March 28, but was ruled out after being deemed overweight at the weigh-in.
“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 said.
According to Aboderin, Olanrewaju had already left Accra on Saturday morning, heading back to Lagos, but decided to return to Ghana after realising he would struggle financially upon his return.
The boxer was said to have called the Ghanaians to ask if another fight was coming up and told them he was ready to collect the additional $500 offered 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,” Aboderin added.
