Former national boxing coach Obisia Nwakpa, in this chat with JACOB AJOM, goes down memory lane to recall how he was robbed of victory in a world-title fight against Saoul Mamby in Lagos, insisting that organisers tricked him to overstay in London, where he gained extra weight before the fight.
Excerpts:
What is your assessment of Nigeria’s performance at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow?
Two bronze medals are not good enough for Nigeria. This is the second time we will be repeating such poor performance. The last was at the New Delhi Games in 2010. Our medal prospects have fallen to this level because there is no seriousness on the part of the officials.
Most of the knowledgeable people in boxing are either dead or too old to come out and contribute meaningfully. Some are ignored by those running the sport. Most of those running boxing are ignorant and ignorance breeds politics.
Besides, most of the coaches who handled the Nigerian boxing team to the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games are still boxers. We taught them how to box but not how to coach. The three coaches who represented Nigeria at the games have no coaching experience. A coach must know the basic principles of the game, not amateur boxers. No amateur boxer can claim he knows boxing.
But Jeremiah Okorodudu, an Olympian was with them?
Okorodudu was not recognised. He was not given his due regard as he had no say. He was drafted to join them at the last minute because he was complaining.
Officials who know the qualities of a good coach are gone, some are dead or too old to come out again. Those running the show now have eyes but can’t see. They don’t even have a technical understanding of the game. If not, why would they go and bring amateur boxers to coach our national team? Without a certificate or attending a good institution for coaching?
Boxing has gone scientific. Six to seven years boxing as an amateur are not enough for one to become a coach. Amateur athletes are primary athletes who know little about the sport they practice.
But do you think we still have the talents?
Yes. We have talented boxers but who will help nurture and train them to stardom? A good boxer is one who knows the concepts and principles guiding the sport. It is what you put into the boxer that the boxer will show in the ring.
Administratively, where do you think we got it wrong in Glasgow?
The three coaches who went to the last Commonwealth Games cannot really express what boxing is all about. A good coach should empower a boxer but when you have nothing to offer, nothing can happen.
Do you think Nigeria is ignoring you?
I retired last year, but I am not tired. The youths are always anxious about taking over offices but you cannot be there when you don’t have the required experience.
You were head coach at some point, so why did you not train a successor?
Who do you bring up to succeed you in government when you are not a politician? It is not a family thing. I only trained boxers. It was not part of my duty to train coaches. That is a different thing altogether. In boxing you find potential bowers and it is your duty as a coach to bring those potential bowers to capacity. Training coaches is a different ball game.
Who did you recommend for a coaching course that was turned down by the ministry?
It is difficult to even recommend if they don’t ask you to. Who do you recommend? Who will listen to you with your recommendations? Is it Patrick Ekeji you want to talk to or who? They won’t listen.
The man that disappointed me most was Ekeji. He was an ex-athlete, went to school and got a PhD in Sports and climbed up to the post of Director-General of the NSC. Tell me what his education is all about. His failure is that he could not establish a system for sports. He did not listen and was a proud man.
Another thing is that Nigeria no longer runs good programmes. We all were brought up under very solid traditions.
In those days, we ran programmes in phases. First phase, second and third phases before major events. Now they no longer run programmes anymore. They went to Commonwealth Games without a programme in four years, In our days, we had open national championships, invitational championships, camping, training tours before traveling for major championships like the Commonwealth or OlympicGames.
But what they do now is to hand-pick boxers. The coaches only handpicked the boxers they know.
Professional boxing is also experiencing a decline. Why is this so?
The managers of the sport and the promoters in particular have not helped the cause. Most of the companies that used to sponsor professional boxing have withdrawn because the promoters have killed their interest in the sport. Professional boxing cannot blossom without staging of fights.
We have very good boxers, some of whom have left the country because of lack of fights. Government too need to back boxing because without government backing nothing can work. In Ghana, government is involved in the promotion and staging of fights.
Tell us about your career achievements
I was a legend in amateur boxing. I was a national champion, African champion, Commonwealth champion, African/Latin American champion, Commonwealth/USA Champion. These are four gold medals that I hold so dearly. I was also 1974 and 1975 CISM champion
In professional career, I was an African belt holder, West African belt holder and Commonwealth belt holder. I was also WBC top contender, the only African who went for a world elimination bout and came out of it successfully.
What happened the day you fought Saoul Mamby in Lagos, that you had to run several times round the stadium before the bout?
Yes I had a weight problem. The problem came about because I was in London for a year and three months. I went to London to train for the fight and never knew I would stay that long.
Numerous postponements followed. The initial plan was for me to stay in London for three months but on getting there they postponed the fight three times. It was all part of the politics. I was almost frustrated. So when they eventually said the fight was coming up, I did not believe it. I was overweight and needed to shed weight. I ran round the stadium 15 times and did rope skipping for one and a half hours to shed weight.
I was number one contender for two years and I fought Saoul Mamby for the title in Lagos. I lost to him 2-1 but that surprised me because I thought I won the fight. Soon after the bout, one of the referees told me “congratulations, you won this fight.” But when the time for declaration came Saoul Mamby was declared the winner. I was shocked. It was a big blow for me.
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