The much awaited bout between Nigeria’s African Boxing Union Champion, Larry Ekundayo and Saidi Mundi of Tanzania has been postponed. According to a release from the boxing management team of the title holder, Larry Ekundayo has had to pull out of his scheduled title defence fight because of injury.
Tanzania's Saidi Mundi |
Şiar Özgül |
The sad development became known on Monday as the boxer sustained a severe injury and damaged his hand during his training session.
Mickey Helliet described this as a nightmare as he stated that Larry Ekundayo had no option but to withdraw from his top of the bill fight against Said Mundi for the African title with a damaged right hand.
“I am bitterly disappointed not to be fighting at the weekend after all the training I’ve done. I was looking forward to bringing sporting success to Nigeria and continue to climb up the world rankings, but my team decided that I couldn’t take the risk to fight with such an injury.” Larry Ekundayo lamented.
The African Boxing Union tittle defence slated for York Hall on Saturday June 4th 2016, is billed to be televised by a UK urban TV London Live. It was gathered that Siar Ozgul has stepped in and will now face Saidi Mundi in a 10 round non-title contest.
''Siar just had his first fight after a year of inactivity on Mayfair Sporting Club show on Thursday at the Park Lane Hotel.''
According to Helliet, ''the fight will be screened on London Live so fair play to Siar, we'll be giving the TV rights to Turkish free of charge so all your friends and family back home will see you and, of course in London, everyone in York Hall and from Limehouse Marina Elite Gym will be cheering you too. Proper fighter!''
Mickey Helliet described this as a nightmare as he stated that Larry Ekundayo had no option but to withdraw from his top of the bill fight against Said Mundi for the African title with a damaged right hand.
Larry 'TheNatural' Ekundayo |
“I am bitterly disappointed not to be fighting at the weekend after all the training I’ve done. I was looking forward to bringing sporting success to Nigeria and continue to climb up the world rankings, but my team decided that I couldn’t take the risk to fight with such an injury.” Larry Ekundayo lamented.
The African Boxing Union tittle defence slated for York Hall on Saturday June 4th 2016, is billed to be televised by a UK urban TV London Live. It was gathered that Siar Ozgul has stepped in and will now face Saidi Mundi in a 10 round non-title contest.
''Siar just had his first fight after a year of inactivity on Mayfair Sporting Club show on Thursday at the Park Lane Hotel.''
According to Helliet, ''the fight will be screened on London Live so fair play to Siar, we'll be giving the TV rights to Turkish free of charge so all your friends and family back home will see you and, of course in London, everyone in York Hall and from Limehouse Marina Elite Gym will be cheering you too. Proper fighter!''
Undefeated Ekundayo, who won the belt in October 2015, was scheduled to defend it against the Tanzanian boxing star Saidi Mundi this Saturday 4th June in London.
Larry’s manager, Ben Gray said, “Larry is a great boxer, but even he can’t fight a man with only one hand! Larry carries the hopes of a nation on his back and it would not be right to send him into battle without giving him the best opportunity of victory”.
According to a released from the London's boxing management team at World Class Athletes, "Ekundayo will be out of action for 6-8 weeks whilst his hand heals, once this is done the bout will be rescheduled for later in the year."
''Unfortunately Larrys fight has had to be postponed as he has
sustained a serious hand injury whilst training. As you can imagine
Larry is gutted but we couldn't risk Larry defending his title with only
one hand.
''Unless you intend to still attend the show we will of course be happy to issue you a full refund of your ticket purchase, or alternatively, as Larry will be back in action within the next few months, you can roll your purchase onto the next fight and we will post you tickets for the next show when they become available. If you have purchased your tickets through the event bright link please send an email detailing your preference to: missmelemmanuel@icloud.com
''Unless you intend to still attend the show we will of course be happy to issue you a full refund of your ticket purchase, or alternatively, as Larry will be back in action within the next few months, you can roll your purchase onto the next fight and we will post you tickets for the next show when they become available. If you have purchased your tickets through the event bright link please send an email detailing your preference to: missmelemmanuel@icloud.com
''If you decide to opt for the refund we will have to have the actual
tickets back before we can release the funds. Please return them to the
address below at your earliest convenience. We will of course cover your
postage cost (include any receipt for postage cost in envelope):
World Class Athletes Ltd,
Club Quarters,
8 Northumberland Av,
London
WC2N 5BY
''We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and would like to thank you for your support.
#TeamNatural ''. Ben Gray stated
World Class Athletes Ltd,
Club Quarters,
8 Northumberland Av,
London
WC2N 5BY
''We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and would like to thank you for your support.
#TeamNatural ''. Ben Gray stated
Speaking further, the boxer's Special Advisor, Bimbo Folayan says “this is a very big loss to Larry considering the amount of time and effort he has put in, but I know Nigerians will support their man and join me in cheering him on when he returns”
Related news:::
The much awaited showdown between the Tanzanian
champion Saidi Mundi and Nigerian Larry Ekundayo that was scheduled to
come on stage at British home of boxing, York Hall in east London on the
4th of June, 2016 at No. 5 Old Ford Road, Bethnal Green, E2 9PJ. was
postponed six days away from the bout due to an injury. As Boxing: Injury leaves Larry Ekundayo out of ABU title defence.
Attention
of global audience and followers of boxing has been drawn to the
celebrated African champion Larry 'The Natural' Ekundayo who is the
undefeated African Boxing Union champion, International Masters
welterweight title holder as well as the 2012 Prizefighter champion.
Larry
Ekundayo who emerged the Africa Champion after beating his challenger
in a fiercely fought lockdown with Ghana's Lamptey in October 2015, will
once again carry the hopes of Nigeria on his shoulders in a title
defence that was set to be an explosive African showdown.
Frontline
boxing commentators have described the upcoming fight as most fierce
competition for the Tanzanian who has been rated as perhaps the best
boxer in the region of East Africa.
The fight
apparently has beginning to set the continent ablaze as fans are
looking forward to see which direction the tittle belt goes.
"This
is certainly one of the biggest fights that determines the best
fighter, this is the East Africa Vs West Africa fiasco" said Nick Abbott
Who will emerge victorious?
The
pride of Nigeria, Larry 'The Natural' Ekundayo is gearing up to defend
his African Boxing Union title belt against Tanzanian boxing star Saidi
Mundi on Saturday 4th June in London.
Tanzanian Champion Mundi brings an impressive ring record of 14 wins and only two losses, meaning both athletes will be looking to get the best of one another on the night.
It was gathered that
this night of sporting excellence will be attended by Nigerian and
African celebrities from the worlds of music and film who are great
supporters of Ekundayo as well as Mundi.
''As
well as this bout promising to be an exciting and thrilling display of
African pugilistic talent. This will also be a night of historic
magnitude, as it will the first time an African title defence has
headlined at the home of British boxing, the York Hall, London.''
This
night would have been of a significant importance to the boxing phenomenon Ekundayo as
victory will propel him up the world rankings ahead of a potential
title defence in his homeland of Nigeria on Independence Day, October
1st, 2016. Ekundayo, his Manager Ben Gray and his Special Advisor Bimbo
Roberts confirmed this to the press in an exusive interview with NUJ Europe
The fliers and advertisements about the showdown now flooding the London city read:
"Come and support the champ on Saturday 4th of June at the home of boxing York Hall.
Venue: 5 Old Ford Road, Bethnal Green, E2 9PJ.
Tickets start from £35 standard, £60 Ringside, Book your tickets now via www.LarryTheNatural.com
Or call/text the Ticket hotline: 07749094172
Flashbacks: Read related news:
Friday, 30 October 2015
Larry 'The Natural' Ekundayo wins African Boxing Union Welterweight Tittle !
By Lashley Oladigbolu, London.
~ Larry Ekundayo fought Joseph Lamptey to win ABU Welterweight in the 12 Rounds to hit world ranking.
Winner: Larry Ekundayo flagged by his children and team mates |
In a weigh-in on Thursday night, barely twenty four hours to the fight the Ghanian, Joseph Lamptey, described as a tough as-old-boots boxer meant to send his opponent to his heels by throwing away the Nigerian flag held by Larry. TheWeigh-in that resulted in near fracas was not without hullabaloo that followed its video clips broadcast on TV, as it went viral on the internet with the hashtag #flaggate. This thrilled the boxing lovers, including Larry's manager, Ben Gray to wonder how the fight would be fought back by Larry 'The Natural', whose country's flag was 'ridiculed' right in front of cameras of the global media.
Nigerian Watch,
a soft sell news-magazine based in London described the scene as ''for
the post weigh-in photo call,'The Natural' appeared with the Nigerian
flag. This enraged Lamptey, who demanded to know where his flag was. He
grabbed the Nigerian flag from Larry and flew it to the floor. For a
tense few seconds it looked like the boxers might square up there and
then not for the intervention of their managers.''
The Chief Executives of Hellraiser Boxing.Com and Warrior Boxing Promotions Mr
Mickey Helliet and Mo Prior respectively, who jointly organised the
London's bout were happy to perceive the wild enthusiasms among the
London spectators who witnessed 'The Judgement Day' with different three long-stretched-out fights on Friday night.
With Friday's win Larry Ekundayo has continued undefeated in all his eleven fights in this category so far.
Larry used to fight hard as a top class amateur then and presently he's pretty much in his best as a professional boxer, I'm happy he's more than prepared for World championship" said Ben Gray.
With Friday's win Larry Ekundayo has continued undefeated in all his eleven fights in this category so far.
Larry used to fight hard as a top class amateur then and presently he's pretty much in his best as a professional boxer, I'm happy he's more than prepared for World championship" said Ben Gray.
Larry
Ekundayo, a Deptford London based boxer has recently gone on the
familiarization tour of Africa and particularly Nigeria, to woo support
from African boxing lovers to his side, the move, according to Bimbo
Roberts Folayan was to keep him focus on targeting succeses in his
boxing career.
Fortunately for Ekundayo, his career that was taking a dip few seasons ago began to bounce back and Arik, a Nigerian airline has been throwing corporate support to boost the promotion around the world-class boxer. The Ekundayo Team comprises the former President of Central Association of Nigerians in the United Kingdom, (CANUK) Bimbo Roberts Folayan, a London based Business Developer of the World Class Athletes, Nick Abbott and the two times African Light welterweight title winner the Nigerian Olusegun Ajose, including well as Larry's manager Ben Gray, have been working round the clock to ensure Larry, the new African Boxing Union tittle holder continued to make progress towards attaining African Boxing Union Tittle he claimed on Friday night after beating the Ghanaian, Joseph Lamptey.
Fortunately for Ekundayo, his career that was taking a dip few seasons ago began to bounce back and Arik, a Nigerian airline has been throwing corporate support to boost the promotion around the world-class boxer. The Ekundayo Team comprises the former President of Central Association of Nigerians in the United Kingdom, (CANUK) Bimbo Roberts Folayan, a London based Business Developer of the World Class Athletes, Nick Abbott and the two times African Light welterweight title winner the Nigerian Olusegun Ajose, including well as Larry's manager Ben Gray, have been working round the clock to ensure Larry, the new African Boxing Union tittle holder continued to make progress towards attaining African Boxing Union Tittle he claimed on Friday night after beating the Ghanaian, Joseph Lamptey.
Earlier
this year, Larry claimed a career-best win when he knocked out Dale
Evans who lost his grip and sat down in the rings in the fifth round.
Larry knocks out Dale |
Larry's accumulation of success in boxing career right from amateurship is impressive. According to the profile displayed in his website, ''Larry won Nigerian Bantam Weight champion in 1998, qualified for the All African games in 1999, and was the Welterweight National Champion in 2000, won a gold medal in an international tournament in Germany in 2002 (at which he also won the best boxer of the tournament), quarter finalist in 2002 Commonwealth games, London ABA champion in 2006 and 2007.''
''As a professional he is the current Betfair Light Middle Prizefighter champion and undefeated in 6 pro fights with 2 stoppages to his name. Despite being a natural Welterweight he has fought all his pro fights so far at Light Middleweight as no one wants to fight him at his own weight.''
Larry 's latest victory elevates him to world ranking and can challenge world championship tittle categories, including WBO.
Notable members of Nigerian community who came to throw their support to Ekundayo at the arena are Professor Chris O Imafidon, Mr Bimbo Roberts Folayan, Dr Godwin Kanu ( President, Nigerian Boxing Board Control), Mr Mike Abiola, DJ Abass among many others.
Click to watch (on Youtube) Larry Ekundayo vs Joseph Lamptey Weigh-in gone viral ahead of the fight .
Check out more exciting photos from Michael Tubes as presented by DJA-Media
Watch also a - 55 seconds promo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qvI_0kdXJY&feature=youtu.be
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