GOtv Boxing Night 16: Agbaje emerges best boxer, wins N1.5m

By Akeem Lawal 

TAIWO “Esepo” Agbaje, on Sunday night, emerged winner of the Mojisola Ogunsanya Memorial trophy for the best boxer at GOtv Boxing Night 16, which carried a cash prize of N1.5million, Sportsbiz247.blogspot.com reports. 

The little known lightweight boxer kept the capacity crowd at the edge of their seats with his all-action style that saw him defeat Tope “TP Rock” Musa in a national lightweight challenge contest. He was voted as best boxer by journalists at the event ahead of the similarly impressive Oto “Joe Boy” Joseph and Rilwan “Real One” Oladosu.

Oladosu, on the night, became the new West African Boxing Union (WABU) lightweight champion by seeing off the challenge of Ghana’s Benjamin Lamptey by unanimous decision in one of the two international bouts at the event.  

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The second Nigeria/Ghana bout resulted in victory for Joseph, who knocked out Emmanuel Mensah International Lightweight challenge. 

The show also delivered a freshly minted national champion in Adewale “Masevex” Masebinu, who avenged his previous defeat in the hands of Kabiru “KB Godson” Towolawi to claim the national light heavyweight title.

Masebinu’s combination of determination and furious punching left his opponent in daze, forcing him to throw in the towel at the end of the fifth round.

In yet another big-name contest, Waidi “Skoro” Usman reinforced his superiority over Chibuzor “T Boy” Obi, whose bid to avenge a previous defeat ended in a third-round knockout in their national featherweight challenge. 

The show featured a clutch of discoveries from the last two editions of GOtv Boxing NextGen Search, who made their professional debuts. 

Opeyemi “Sense” Elijah, best boxer at GOtv Boxing NextGen Search 4, made a winning debut by defeating Sheriff “Oshe” Ogunbanjo in their super bantamweight challenge clash.

Waheed “Showmax” Shogbanmu also saw off fellow GOtv Boxing NextGen alumnus, Azeez “Who Say So” Tijani in their national light welterweight challenge, knocking him out in the first round. 

Adeyemi “Spirit” Adekanla began his life in the professional cadre by defeating the more experienced Ganiyu “Energy” Kolawole in a light welterweight challenge, while Aminu “Lucky Boy” Akintayo defeated Mutiu “Machine” Lawal in the national super flyweight challenge.

PICTURES: Farinto Akinkunmi