Anthony Joshua, the Nigerian born British professional world heavyweight boxing champion will likely be at the ringside to cheer Nigerian Ridwan Scorpion Oyekola to victory in a World Boxing Federation’s (WBF) Super Featherweight title fight, scheduled for December 27 in Ibadan, Nigeria.
Oyekola is facing Argentine boxer, Lucas Matias Montesino at Ilaji Hotels and Sports Resort in Ibadan for the super featherweight vacant title belt.
The chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) for the epic bout, Sir Olawale Okunniyi revealed in Ibadan during a courtesy visit to the Ijebu home of the father of Anthony Joshua, Jonathan.
Sir Okunniyi said the father of the heavyweight champion informed a delegation of the LOC who visited in Ogun State that his son, Anthony Joshua was planning to be in Nigeria for Christmas and will grace the fight slated for December 27, if given green light by his medical team after his last bout on December 12 in London.
“We paid a courtesy visit to the country home of Jonathan Joshua, father of Anthony Joshua in Ijebu as part of our activities to mobilise and promote the WBF World Title Bout, and he assured that his son was planning to be in the country for Christmas and will be attending the WBF title fight in Ibadan to cheer the ‘Scorpion’ to victory,” Okunniyi informed.
He added that the LOC had already made every arrangement to secure the Ilaji Sports Resorts, venue of the fight and guaranteed the safety of all dignitaries and spectators that will be gracing the event, as all precautionary measure by the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) against COVID-19 will be observed.
Meanwhile, Joshua has made a substantial donation to helped fund amateur boxing in Britain – saying he hopes “we have not lost the next generation” of fighters.
Some clubs have been forced to close during the pandemic and there has been no government support for boxing.
Briton Joshua, 31, gave a six-figure sum to the amateur boxing federations of England, Wales and Scotland.
Gethin Jenkins, Chairman of England Boxing, said: “We are delighted and we thank Anthony for this much-needed financial support and for drawing attention to the role and support the clubs offer in their local communities and with it the need for greater government support to grassroots boxing clubs.”
Joshua first became world champion in 2016 when he beat American Charles Martin to win the IBF title.
His most recent fight was a ninth-round stoppage of Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev at Wembley Arena on 12 December.
