Kano Hosts Thrilling Boxing League as Yucateco Revitalizes Northwest Fight Culture

Seasoned boxing administrators, former boxers, and hundreds of boxing spectators were present at the sports arena of the Nigerian Army 3 brigade headquarters Bukavu barracks in Kano state on Saturday as the Yucateco boxing league week-12 took centre stage. 

The event attracted key sports stakeholders from the Northwest zone, which includes the former president of the Nigeria Football Federation, Ibrahim Galadima; Director General of Kano State Sports Commission, Garba Shehu; former vice president of oigeBoxing Federation, Ibrahim Zango as well as two times Olympian Sabo Mohammed.

With sixteen (16) bouts on the fight card, some of the contests brought about interesting results. Hostilities got on the way in the 51kg contest as Sultan Umar secured a 4-1 victory over  Haruna Yusufu. The 63.5kg brawl gave the fans plenty to cheer as Haruna Nuhu and Bala Sambo presented an entertaining bout, with the latter finishing tops with a 3-2 triumph. In other results, Taiwo Bakare defeated Bayero Sani 5-0 in their 71kg contest, while Danladi Usman secured a 4-1 victory over Qozeem Abeeb. See more results at yucatecoboxing.com.

One of the high points of the event was the presentation of the prestigious Yucateco Boxing Recognition Award to selected sports stakeholders in the northwest.

Special guest of honour Brig. Gen. A.M. Tukur, Commander 3 Brigade, Nigerian Army, said consistent engagement of young pugilists is the apt way to revive the dwelling state of boxing in the country as he lauds Yucateco’s efforts in developing amateur boxing in Nigeria.

“This is a laudable initiative, and I must commend Yucateco boxing promotions for creating a platform for these young boxers to hone their skills; YBL is the only boxing league I know in Nigeria, and I am happy that they deemed it necessary to host one of the fight weeks in our base here in Kano”.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Yucateco boxing promotions, Omonlei Yakubu Imadu, said he aims to revive the boxing culture in the Northern region as well as breed the next generation of boxing superstars for Nigeria. 

“We have taken the league to several cities in the country since the very first season and this time we see it necessary to stage the bouts in Kano to encourage the young boxers from this part of the country, we aim to create a consistent platform that will aid the development of boxing talents in the country hence the Yucateco boxing league was initiated in 2023”.

Yucateco Boxing Promotions donated several boxing gloves and other training equipment to the Kano State Boxing Association as part of efforts to consistently engage pugilists in the state.