A total of 128 boxers, including four diaspora athletes, are locked in fierce competition at the Brai Ayonote Boxing Complex, National Stadium, Surulere, as the Nigeria Boxing Federation\u2019s open trials to select 10 representatives for the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, reach their decisive stages.\n<\/p>\n
The trials, which drew 101 men and 27 women, have produced spirited performances across the weight categories since preliminary bouts opened on Tuesday, with quarter-finals held on Wednesday and semi-finals scheduled for Thursday (today) following medical tests and weigh-ins.\n<\/p>\n
The championship bouts are set for Friday, March 6, in a carnival atmosphere running from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.\n<\/p>\n
NBF Secretary General Vivian Azimene confirmed that the team size was expanded following the intervention of the Director General of the National Sports Commission, Bukola Olopade.<\/p>\n
\u201cInitially, we were supposed to go with three women and three men. But after the visit of the DG, we\u2019ve been promised five female boxers and five male boxers. In total, 10 athletes will represent Nigeria in boxing,\u201d Azimene said. <\/p>\n
She expressed confidence that the process would produce the strongest possible team. \u201cThat\u2019s why we are doing the trial, to give all boxers the opportunity to be part of the team. We will ensure we pick those who will make the country proud,\u201d she added.\n<\/p>\n
For many of the athletes, the stakes are deeply personal. One of the competitors, Sharafadeen Fawas, captured the mood in the arena. \u201cI\u2019m glad to have the opportunity to participate. This shows the hard work and dedication I\u2019ve put in. My expectation is to make the cut for the national camp and to show Nigeria how committed I am,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Competition spans 10 weight categories \u2014 five for men (55kg, 65kg, 70kg, 80kg and 90kg) and five for women (51kg, 57kg, 65kg, 70kg and 70+kg).\n<\/p>\n
Nigeria arrives at the Glasgow Games with a strong Commonwealth pedigree in boxing. At the 2022 edition in Birmingham, the team fielded nine fighters led by captain Abdul-Afeez Osoba and returned home with four medals \u2014 one silver through Elizabeth Oshoba and three bronzes courtesy of Cynthia Ogunsemilore, Jacinta Umunnakwe and Ifeanyi Onyekwere.\n<\/p>\n
The 2026 Commonwealth Games are scheduled for July 24 to August 1 at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, where boxing will feature across 14 events \u2014 seven men\u2019s and seven women\u2019s categories \u2014 as part of a 10-sport programme that also includes athletics, swimming, gymnastics, cycling, netball, bowls and basketball.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A total of 128 boxers, including four diaspora athletes, are locked in fierce competition at the Brai Ayonote…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":515710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[1268,703,204217,204218,49,48,204219,204220,204221,204222,186286,204223,82,204224,204225],"class_list":["post-515709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-amateur-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-boxing-trials","tag-brai-ayonote-boxing-complex","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-commonwealth-games-2026","tag-glasgow-2026","tag-national-sports-commission","tag-national-stadium-surulere","tag-nigeria-boxing-federation","tag-nigerian-boxers","tag-sports","tag-sports-trials","tag-team-nigeria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}