A Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and
Diaspora, Honourable Abike Dabiri-Erewa, has congratulated the
Nigerian-born boxer, Anthony Oluwafemi Joshua for defeating Wladimir
Klitschko of Ukraine, thereby defending his IBF heavyweight title.
A
statement signed by Abdurrahman Balogun, Special Assistant on Media,
Dabiri-Erewa disclosed this, adding that the victory of Anthony was not
only a thing of pride to Nigerians but the whole of Africa.
“I
congratulate you on this wonderful feat, for winning the biggest fight
in British boxing history. We are truly proud of you and urge you to
continue to use your professional prowess to extol the virtues of
Nigerian heritage. Your shinning beacon serves as inspiration to the
Youth of Nigeria.
“Your victory, is also a testimony to the fact
that Nigerians are great people contributing in many ways to the
development of the country and the continent as a whole”, Dabiri-Erewa
added.
The Presidential aide noted with satisfaction that despite the
challenges being faced by Anthony in his chosen career, he remained
focused and did not allow that to lure him into any form of criminality.
Anthony
Oluwafemi Joshua defended his IBF heavyweight title and fought for the
vacant WBA (Super) and IBO heavyweight titles against Wladimir Klitschko
on April 29, before 90,000 fans at Wembley Stadium.
The
27-year-old heavyweight boxer nickname ‘AJ’, is the currently an
undefeated professional boxer, with 17 wins and an incredible 18
knockouts.
He was born in Watford to Yoruba parents from Southwest
Nigeria and has a fellow unbeaten professional boxer, Ben lleyemi, with
whom he made his professional debut in 2013.
Joshua, who was a
bricklayer before taking up boxing full-time, excelled at football and
athletics and broke the nine-year-old 100m record with a time of 11.6
seconds.
