AFRICA: 12 things you didn’t know about the Nigerian boxer who died in the ring in Ghana

Nigerian boxer died in the ring

By Emmanuel Akyereko

Boxing authorities in Nigeria have revealed that boxer Olarewaju Oluwaseun Gabriel who died in the ring during a bout in Ghana didn’t have a license to fight.

Olarewaju collapsed and died in the ring in the 8th round of the boxing bout against Ghanaian opponent Jonathan Mbanugu.

According to reports from Nigeria, authorities withdrew the boxing license of the 40-year-old because he lacked the fitness to compete in the sport.

Jafriq Radio, has compiled a list of 12 things you didn’t know about the late Nigerian boxer.

1. Olanrewaju was born in Lagos and stayed in Lagos.
2. His fighting stance is orthodox and fought in the light heavy weight division.
3. He had a height of 6.1 or 185 cm.
4. His debut professional bout happened on 2019-07-30 in a bout against Jimoh Nojeem which he won at the Police College (Squash Hall), Ikeja.
5. His boxing license was withdrawn in 2024.
6. He fought 23 times
7. He won 13 times via knockout – he lost 8 times and drew 2 times.
8. His boxing ID was 888308.
9. He lost all his last 5 bouts including the bout he died in the ring.
10. He never won any bout fought against a foreigner
11. He fought 6 times on foreign lands including the bout he died in Accra.
12. All 5 Russian opponents defeated him.