{"id":524501,"date":"2026-03-09T12:16:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T12:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/524501\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T12:16:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T12:16:09","slug":"nigeria-name-10-strong-boxing-team-for-glasgow-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/524501\/","title":{"rendered":"Nigeria name 10-strong boxing team for Glasgow 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u200bThe Nigeria Boxing Federation (NBF)<\/a> has officially selected ten athletes to represent the nation at the 2026 Commonwealth Games after a high-stakes trial at the National Stadium in Lagos. Out of 128 competitors, ten champions emerged to claim their places on the plane to Glasgow.<\/p>\n

\u200bThe headline act of the trials was Patricia Mbata, the 2023 African Games gold medalist. A UK-based construction engineer by trade, Mbata showed no signs of the heartbreak from narrowly missing Paris 2024. She delivered a clinical 5\u20130 unanimous decision over national champion Blessing Orakwe in the women\u2019s +70kg final.<\/p>\n

\u200bMbata leads a formidable women\u2019s squad of five, including: Happiness Udoette (51kg) WHO edged out Fathia Gafar in a 3\u20132 thriller.<\/p>\n

Joining Mbata in the women\u2019s squad are Happiness Udoette, who edged Fathia Gafar 3\u20132 in the 51kg; Kadijat Ajibola, who outclassed Aishat Gbadamosi 4\u20131 in the 57kg; Damilola Sodipe, who dominated Abibat Ismail 5\u20130 in the 65kg; and Celestine Edoka, who floored Queen James 4\u20131 in the 70kg.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The men\u2019s division also produced gripping contests. Diaspora boxer Kenneth Anigboro, based in Yorkshire, UK, claimed the 90kg crown after a tense 3\u20132 victory over Abiodun Adesoja. Michael Ogunremi impressed with a 5\u20130 win over Habeeb Owazeem in the 55kg, while southpaw Wahab Abdulrahman defeated Ridwan Saliu 4\u20131 in the 65kg. Folly Hassan secured the 70kg ticket with a 4\u20131 win over Precious Nwoha, and Joseph Daniel advanced in the 80kg after a walkover against Fara Sleeraf.<\/p>\n

In total, five men and five women will fly Nigeria\u2019s flag in Glasgow, with additional boxers invited to camp as sparring partners to sharpen preparations.<\/p>\n

NBF Technical Director Babatunde Laguda commended the resilience of the athletes and officials, noting the intensity of the trials.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost times the fights ended late into the night, but we ensured fairness in every bout,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201c Winning does not always mean you are the best, so we will still invite some of the outstanding boxers to camp as sparring partners. Their contributions will be vital to the team\u2019s success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nigeria will be hoping to improve on its 2022 Birmingham outing, where nine fighters led by captain Abdul-Afeez Osoba returned with four medals\u2014one silver from Elizabeth Oshoba and three bronzes courtesy of Cynthia Ogunsemilore, Jacinta Umunnakwe, and Ifeanyi Onyekwere.<\/p>\n

The 2026 Commonwealth Games are scheduled for July 24 to August 1 at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, with boxing featuring across 14 events\u2014seven men\u2019s and seven women\u2019s categories\u2014alongside athletics, swimming, gymnastics, cycling, netball, bowls, and basketball.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u200bThe Nigeria Boxing Federation (NBF) has officially selected ten athletes to represent the nation at the 2026 Commonwealth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":524502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,82,206519],"class_list":["post-524501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-the-nigeria-boxing-federation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524501","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=524501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/524502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=524501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=524501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=524501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}