Boxing: Dabiri-Erewa Hails Joshua’s Victory
Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairman/CEO Nigerians
in Diaspora Commission ( NIDCOM) has congratulated Nigerian-born boxer,
Anthony Oluwafemi-Joshua, for defeating his opponent Andy Ruiz Jr in
Saturday’s World Heavyweight Boxing fight in Saudi Arabia, thus
reclaiming his World Heavyweight titles.
Media and Public Relations, Abdur-Rahman Balogun, on Sunday in Abuja.
She said that the victory over the Mexican was not only a thing of pride
to Nigerians, but to Africa as a whole.
“I congratulate you on this wonderful feat, for winning this tensed but
historical fight.
“We are truly proud of you and urge you to continue to use your
professional prowess to extol the virtues of Nigerian heritage.
“Your shinning beacon serves as an inspiration to the youth of Nigeria.
“Your victory is also a testimony to the fact that Nigerians are great
people, contributing in many ways to the development of the country and
the continent as a whole,” Dabiri-Erewa stated.
She noted with satisfaction that in spite of the challenges being faced
by Anthony in his career, he had remained determined, focused and did
not allow that to lure him into any form of criminality or depression.
Anthony Joshua, a.k.a AJ, became a two-time world heavyweight champion
with unanimous points of 118-110, 118-110 and 119-109 victory over
Andy Ruiz Jr in a tense rematch in Saudi Arabia.
Joshua cut his opponent in round one and dominated the fight throughout.
Six months on from the night Ruiz stunned boxing, Joshua risked seeing
his career left in tatters for second defeat before over 14,000
spectators at Diriyah arena, but served up 36 minutes of movement and
well-timed punching to take the IBF, WBA and WBO titles back to Britain.
Joshua, 30, was born in Watford to Yoruba parents from Southwest
Nigeria, with a fellow Nigerian boxer, Ben lleyemi, made their
professional debut together in 2013.
A.J now joins a small cluster of men including Muhammad Ali, Lennox
Lewis, Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson and Floyd Patterson to have
reclaimed the world heavyweight title.
He was a bricklayer before taking up boxing full-time. He also excelled
at football and athletics and broke a nine-year-old 100-metre record with
a time of 11.6 seconds.
