The boxing world is mourning the death of another fighter after Nigeria’s Gabriel Oluwasegun Olanrewaju passed away shortly after collapsing in the ring on Saturday.
Oluwasegun, 40, was competing against John Mbangu at the Bukom Boxing Arena in Accra, Ghana when he was seriously hurt in the third round of their contest.
The light-heavyweight, a former a former national and West African light-heavyweight champion, lost consciousness and received first aid on the scene.
He was rushed to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead 30 minutes after his arrival.
Oluwasegun fought 23 times as a professional, winning 13 of those bouts – 12 of those coming via knockout.
The vast majority of his fights were fought in homeland, making the trip to Russia on five occasions.
The Ghana Boxing Authority (GBA) issued a statement addressing the incident.
‘Oluwasegun was declared medically fit by the Nigeria Boxing Board Control with his certification as a professional boxer before the GBA sanctioned and approved the international contest.
‘Oluwasegun, a few seconds before the end of round 3, stepped back during the fight and leaned on the ropes with his back without any punch whatsoever from his opponent.
‘The referee, Richard Amevi, sensing danger, waved his hand for the end of the fight and immediately invited the ringside physician with the support of paramedics from the national ambulance service to attend to the boxer to help resuscitate him.
‘The GBA President reported the incident to the Korle Bu Police Station.
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‘The Minister for Sports and Recreation, Mr Kofi Iddie Adams, was formally informed by the GBA President of the unfortunate incident.’
The general secretary of the Nigeria Boxing Board of Control, Remi Aboderin, told BBC Sport Africa: ‘We are really devastated,’ describing Oluwasegun as a ‘fearless ring warrior’.
‘[This] is not something we envisaged. We will live up to our responsibility and make sure that we stand [by] the family.’
Local reports claim Olanrewaju is believed to have suffered a cardiac arrest but no cause of death has been confirmed.
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