The former world cruiser-weight boxing champion, Bash Ali, has written
the Acting-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo explaining why he wants his
International Boxing Union (IBU) title fight to hold in Nigeria.
Bash Ali said other previous winners of the IBU world title whose names
were also entered into the Guinness Book of records as the oldest
fighters of their respective times, did so in their home countries.
Hence, his bid to join their ranks cannot be any different.
In a copy of the letter to the Acting-President which was made
available to the media, Ali narrated his ordeal in the hands of various
sports administrators in his bid to realize his ambition, adding that
the organisers of the fight had now given him a deadline to furnish them
with the process to the fight.
He wrote: “Sir, the International Boxing Union (IBU) has given
Nigeria a March 10, 2017 deadline to give them a letter guaranteeing the
safety of the 170 member countries that would be in Nigeria to watch
the historic fight and to pay the overdue $1M IBU approval fee or lose
the right to host to Germany. I am offered big time money to fight in
Germany but I prefer my country, Nigeria.
“Sir, George Foreman set the GWR in his country, America. Joe Bugner
set the GWR in his country, Australia. Bernard Hopkins set the GWR in
his country, America. And now that it is your brother’s turn, it has
become an unpardonable crime to want to break the GWR at home so Nigeria
can get the benefits. My plight has caught the attention of the
International community that one of the most respected newspapers in the
world, New York Times had to write about it.”
Ali has for over 10 years been struggling to enter his name in the
Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest boxer to win a world title.