GabriThe Nigeria Boxing Board of Control (NBBofC) has said a lack of money , debt and the promise of an extra $500 were the reasons Gabriel Olanrewaju Oluwasegun went on with the fight that took his life in Ghana.
NBBofC Statement
Secretary General of the Nigeria Boxing Board of Control Remi Aboderin reacting to the issue said:
“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.”
“Saturday morning, they were on their way back to Lagos, they had even left Accra and were at Aflao border when Segun said to the coach that followed him, that’s Diran Alamu, that it was not going to be easy returning home; he left Nigeria with no money and he had debts to pay and needed money.
“So, he wanted to call the Ghanaians and see if another fight was coming up and told them he was now ready to collect the additional $500 as discussed 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. he turned back and went back to Ghana because he needed the money; he owed a lot of people money,” the NBBofC secretary added.
As at the time of this report, authorities are still awaiting the results of an autopsy to ascertain the true cause of his death.
