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Eromosele,Ikeke fight against poverty

Two Nigerian boxers top the bill as heavyweights from sports, music and the diplomatic world come together this week in New York to "Knock Out Poverty" in Africa, writes DIPO OKUBANJO

THE event couldn't have come at a better time. On the eve of the day when Nigeria's President Umaru Yar'Adua is billed to address the 63rd General Assembly of the United Nations,influential personalities from different walks of life would have the opportunity of catching a glimpse of the best of Nigerian boxing at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, the United States.

Former IBA Continental Light Middleweight Champion Albert "Bad Boy" Eromosele and Kingsley Ikeke, both Nigerian-born boxers based in the US,including four others from different African countries are involved
in the first “Knock Out Poverty” fight card to raise funds for All For Africa, a non-profit organization that hopes to revolutionize economic development in Africa. Eromosele (21-2, 10 KOs) squares up against Ossie Duran of Ghana (23-6-1, 9 KOs) in the main event, while Kingsley Ikeke (24-3, 13 KOs) takes on Abdullah Ramadan of Sudan (15-8, 9 KOs) in a Light Middleweight undercard bout to determine the WBC North American Championship. The other undercard is a Light Heavyweight bout featuring Jaffa "The African Assassin" Of Togo and Manu Ntoh of Cameroun.

Interestingly, the event seems not for the average boxing fan because premium tickets cost $2,500 each, although one can sit in the balcony for $1,000. Ivestigation revealed that tickets cost that much because the project is not just about boxing. The All For Africa website promises, “Grammy award winner and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Youssou N’Dour and other special guests are set to align for this historic evening. Leading activists, philanthropists, and African heads of state are expected to attend.” This implies that there will be lots of entertainment in addition to the fights.

N'Dour will be finding himself in a familiar gathering. He has long been an activist and campaigner, since before the original Live Aid. In 1985, N'Dour organised a concert for the liberation of Nelson Mandela in Dakar's Amitié Stadium, he toured in the West in the late eighties with Amnesty International and took part in the Live 8 effort to help eradicate poverty.

Eromosele, who represented Nigeria in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics, spent 16 years as an amateur boxer and had a reported 568 bouts. He was a finalist in the All-African Championships and Silver medallist in the Commonwealth Games. In 2001, Eromosele finally made his pro debut, registering a first-round TKO win against Nikolai Ermenkov (6-1) in Kazakhstan. Fighting in places like Arizona, Reno, Connecticut, Atlanta and Florida, as well as Chile and Canada helped to build up his career.

Born in Ghana, Duran lives in London but has fought the last two-and-a-half years in the United States, winning three times in New England before losing his last bout (June 1, 2007) on ShoBox to undefeated rising star James Kirkland (18-0) by 10-round decision in Santa Ynez, California.

Promoter Bob Duffy, who is doing the nuts-and-bolts work, noted at the weekend that “putting together a fight card with all of the fighters coming from Africa might be easy in Africa. But in New York, it’s hard.”