THE KING CAME HOME

That the interim World Boxing Council Heavyweight Champion (WBC) touched down in Nigeria on the 14th of November 2007 may not really be news. That Samuel “The Nigeria Nightmare” Okon Peters has been conferred with a national honour OON may not also be news. That he was greeted with an awesome fanfare is not also news. But that he has started training on Monday, November 19, 2007 is news. That the Maskaev- Peters fight could be held in Nigeria is indeed news. That the President on behalf on the Government and the good people of Nigeria pledged his support for the boxer is also heart warming.

When Samuel Peters Kicked off his career not many knew him, talk more of giving him the chance of rising to the top of the game. He was lured into the game as an 11year old when he came in contact with some boxers who came to Uyo, his home town to train from then on the boxer never looked back, he won the local Eagle Belt in the year 2000, same year he was selected to represent Nigeria at the Sydney Olympics where he was stopped by an Italian known as Paolo Vidoz in the quarter finals but became more popular than the eventual gold medalist because of his orthodox boxing style. He was spotted by Ivaylo Gotzev who said he saw in him a “Youngman with raw power and the will to succeed”. He turned professional and has moved up in the right direction, today he is the biggest personality brand in Nigeria and probably in Africa’s sports.

As a follow up to last week’s article on the state of the pound game in our country, I did say that, it’s a laughable situation in Nigeria when an athlete who in time past is relatively unknown and given no support suddenly becomes successful you would see our administrators pouring encomium on such individual and in Samuel’s case it was exactly so. However, this week I want to x-ray, the significance of Peters’ feat, and the deplorable condition of the sport at home I will also be looking at the preparation of the Interim Champ to see if he stands a chance to be the next undisputed Heavyweight Champion of the World.

The Significance of Samuel The Nigeria Nightmare” Peters Feat: A candid and concise review of the heavyweight class today will indicate that, there are not many fine fighters in the class of Mike Tyson, Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield ( in his glory days), James “Buster” Douglas and many others. You will also notice that the pound game is getting on without any American fighter in focus, except “fast” Eddie Chambers get past Alex Povetkin and becomes the number one contender to the International Boxing Federation title and that is if the unification bout been planned between Wladimir Klitschko and Sultan Ibragimov does not hold in February 2008 or maybe if it does hold the winner will face the American.. Lack of solid amateur background has attributed to be the major set back for American fighters and the fact that other sport in that country also pays huge purse, the youths there don’t really see reasons why they should get beaten up before they earn money. The Russians are sweeping through the heavyweight class and there seems no stopping them, no doubt they have solid armature background and tends to be well packaged, before now they hardly get to turn pro owing to the system of government that was on in the then Russia but its important to also note that they are prone to injuries especially as they grow older, only God knows what will happen if the Cuban’s embrace democracy. Africans possess solid amateur background but lacks basic infrastructure that would have put them on world map but with the performance of Samuel “The Nigeria Nightmare” Peters the door has open for African boxers with more emphasis, boxers from this continent still suffers from poor remuneration and poor family background. Now that this fact is known the promoters are likely to provide the needed motivation that these boxers require to hit the lime light. To say that there are many more Samuel Peters in Nigeria and Indeed Africa is not out of place, just like the performance of Stephen Keshi paved way for many other Nigerian and African players to ply their trade abroad so also has the performance of Samuel Peters opened up the opportunity of many other Africans to trade punches outside the shores of this continent. The world can trust that African can produce a solid, discipline and professional athlete that can handle fame. By my estimate if African boxers are properly packaged we might just be ruling the heavyweight class and if that comes to pass it will remain for a very long time because of our raw strength.

The Deplorable State of Boxing at Home: So much gap exist when one compares the success of our boxers and the management of boxing at home, a situation where the association does little or noting for the boxers in terms of welfare and provision of basic infrastructure. They know little about the travails of these prize fighters but no sooner have they hit goldmine the next thing you hear are wonderful words of praise. I am not against congratulating athlete’s when they succeed rather am of the opinion that the association should get involved in the building and making of the boxers, they should provide some form of standard for the sport. The pound game is a money spinner if well packaged. It is my firm belief that if boxing, even now, is well put together can still attract sponsors and promoters and that will translate into big money for the boxers and the sport itself, not relying on subventions from the government and fighting over estacode. Another issue that must be taking seriously, is the issue of welfare, it is laughable to note that national team boxers rely on “Agege bread and ewa” as stable food. I use this medium to plead with Samuel “The policeman” Peters to lend his voice to this condition. Our beloved president should also move from supporting Samuel Peters to supporting Boxing. The NBB of C should create modalities that will enable our boxers outside these shores to contribute to the growth of the sport.

The Training Period: The longest training period for Samuel Peters 27, was an 8weeks training session when he was billed to face Oleg Maskaev in the botched October 6th encounter at the Madison Square Garden. This time, he started training on Monday 19th of November 2007, this translates into 9weeks and 4days, and this is bad news for Maskaev (who is said to be training secretly in an undisclosed place) because in addition to this fact, he is well motivated by the awesome support here at home. The Akwa Ibom born pugilist was overwhelmed by the honour accorded him upon his arrival to Nigeria, it was indeed a kingly welcome. He met with the President Commander in Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria where he was assured of government support he then conferred with Order Of the Niger: a national honour. Another moral booster came alive when the Inspector General of Police promoted the prize fighter to the position of Deputy Superintendent of police and went ahead to convert his employment from sports policeman to a regular policeman (Thumbs up for the Nigeria Police Force).
Put differently, Samuel “The Policeman” Peters is well motivated ahead of the clash come February 02, 2008, I pray Maskaev does not develop any injuries. This time Sam is aware of the expectation of the average Nigerian and has on first hand witnessed the kind of support he has here at home, that alone can boost his performance.

Meanwhile, the Maskaev camp was quick to announce their readiness to fight Samuel Peters after the McCline fight, which apparently suggest to me that they feel that Sam will be knocked out or taken out easily, well if they base their assumption on that, then they should also take into cognizance the fact that The Nigeria Nightmare is powerfully motivated this time and he is not ready to drop his position as the king of the WBC. The ears of Maskaev should also know that Samuel “The Nigeria Nightmare” Peters is now better experienced to ward off any onslaught. He also came home and has been recharged to produce a five star performance. Mention must also be made of the Don who came with the King, ofcourse you know with the Don any thing is possible, the fight may just be shifted to Nigeria, who knows.