Nigeria’s boxing hopes fade after Akintola’s early exit

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Team Nigeria’s hopes of winning a boxing medal at the ongoing 23rd Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, suffered another major setback on Saturday night, as David Akintola crashed out in the opening round of the men’s 80kg event.

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Akintola, regarded as one of Nigeria’s brightest prospects in the ring, was beaten 4-1 by Tanzania’s Yusef Lucasi Changalewa in their Round of 32 contest at the SEC Centre.

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The Nigerian struggled to impose himself throughout the bout as Changalewa dictated the pace with sharper combinations, better movement and cleaner scoring punches, repeatedly finding openings with well-timed attacks that left Akintola chasing the fight for long spells.

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By the end of the three rounds, the judges overwhelmingly favoured Changalewa 4-1, underlining the Tanzanian’s superiority on the night.

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The victory sent Changalewa through to the Round of 16, where he will face Kenya’s Robert Okaka, while the defeat leaves Nigeria’s boxing campaign hanging by a thread, with the country’s medal aspirations in the sport gradually fading after two successive first-round eliminations.

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Akintola became the third Nigerian boxer to bow out at the first hurdle, following Ayomide Hassan and Abdulramon Abdulwahab’s disappointing exit on Friday. Hassan suffered a comprehensive 4-0 points defeat to Lesotho’s Refiloe Thai in the men’s 70kg Round of 32 bout, ending his campaign before it could gather momentum.

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With three of the country’s leading contenders already eliminated, Team Nigeria now face an uphill task to salvage their boxing campaign and keep alive hopes of a podium finish in the discipline.

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Elsewhere in the men’s 80kg category, Uganda’s Alfred Ojok produced a dominant display to overpower Niue’s Kilani Anitelea-Launiu 5-0, advancing to the Round of 16, where he will face England’s Dimaji Shittu in what promises to be one of the standout contests of the division.

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