Beaten ABU title contender, Usman vows to come back stronger

WAIDI ‘Skoro’ Usman was touted as the next big thing in Nigerian boxing, but on Saturday at the GOtv Boxing Night V at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium, Lagos, the crowd favourite was denied the chance of becoming the African Boxing Union (ABU) featherweight champion by Uganda’s Edward ‘Ring Messiah’ Kakembo in the title fight.

The fight ended in a split decision, but the Ugandan, who boasted pre-match that beating Skoro would be his Christmas gift to his countrymen, was clearly better than his Nigerian adversary.

He was lightning -fast in offence and clever in defence, evading Skoro ‘s punches.

However, Usman’s ambition of one day becoming African champion has not been dampened by that loss. Rather, he sees it as a reminder that the job to the top would not be an easy task.

Speaking after the fight, Usman pleaded with his fans to bear with him, describing his loss as a temporary setback.

“I will go back to look at the areas I did not measure up and plan for a better outing next time. It is unfortunate that I lost but I want to assure my fans that I will be back stronger,” he said.

In the other bouts of the night, Stanley “Edo Boy” Eribo, became the national light welterweight boxing champion when he defeated Sunday

“Capo” Olalekan by knockout.

Cheered on by the capacity crowd at the venue and using his longer as well as superior guile, Edo Boy toyed with Capo. He effectively held off his opponent’s savage punches, while delivering his own with brutal efficiency that yielded a tenth-round knockout.