Boxing legends and rising stars of the Nigerian ring gathered at the NIS Conference Hall of the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, on Sunday as the 2026 Fight Gist Media Boxing Awards celebrated the outstanding performances of fighters, coaches and boxing personalities from across the country over the past year.\n<\/p>\n
The ceremony, which has grown swiftly since its inaugural edition, honoured competitors across 14 categories.\n<\/p>\n
Among the evening\u2019s most notable moments was the Comeback of the Year award, which went to Ike \u201cThe President\u201d Ibeabuchi, one of the most celebrated names in Nigerian boxing history. Popular crowd favourite Taiwo \u201cEsehpo\u201d Agbaje was named Fans\u2019 Favourite of the Year, continuing a remarkable run of recognition for one of the sport\u2019s most beloved figures.\n<\/p>\n
Yusuf \u201cSwaggu\u201d Adisa Adeniji claimed the Male Fighter of the Year prize, while Adejumola Toyin was honoured as Female Fighter of the Year in recognition of her performances over the qualifying period.<\/p>\n
Abijuwon Faruk and Mayowa Ayomide were recognised in the amateur categories, winning Outstanding Amateur Boxer of the Year in the male and female divisions respectively. The Most Improved Boxer of the Year award went to Animasahun \u201cBaddo\u201d Raheem, while Adeshina \u201cDestiny Boy\u201d Oluwatosin was named Prospect of the Year. <\/p>\n
Hassan \u201cThiago\u201d Tiamiyu\u2019s devastating stoppage claimed Knockout of the Year, and Sunday \u201cCapo Ajagun\u201d Olalekan was honoured as Trainer of the Year. The fight between Sodiq \u201cHappy Boy\u201d Adeleke and Durotimi \u201cTiny\u201d Agboola was named Fight of the Year, while Basit \u201cJoker Boy\u201d Adebayo took the Best Ring Walk award.\n<\/p>\n
On the social media side, Appah \u201cZodsolo\u201d Godday was named Male Social Media Influencer of the Year, with Ojo Joy Nene claiming the female equivalent.<\/p>\n
A series of Awards of Recognition for Coaches was also presented on the night, with Abimbola Kola, Azeez Kolawole Owonikoko, Ojo Babatunde, Olusegun Ajose, Monsuru Akande, Rasheed Bello, Sunday Olalekan and Idris Ajanaku all receiving recognition for their contributions to developing boxing talent in Nigeria.\n<\/p>\n
The Special Awards segment produced some of the evening\u2019s most poignant moments. Hon. Gbenga Opaleye received the Award of Excellence in recognition of his outstanding leadership and contributions to the growth of boxing in Oyo State and Nigeria. Mr. Olanrewaju \u201cThe Natural\u201d Ekundayo was honoured with an Award of Recognition for winning National Sports Festival gold medals at the Imo 1998 Games in the Bantamweight division and the Bauchi 2000 Games in the Welterweight division \u2014 an extraordinary achievement that required him to move up four weight classes in just two years. Mr. Olanrewaju Agiri received recognition for his contributions to boxing and sports journalism in Nigeria, while Samuel \u201cApataroro\u201d Moses was presented with an Award of Resilience and Azeez Ismail Adebayor was named Most Dedicated Fan.\n<\/p>\n
The event was supported by sponsors including God Hand Dog and Poultry Farm Business, Felachamp Promotion, Phase 4 Sportkits, Papa\u2019s Grill, D Star Kits, Firo Entertainment House, De Lads Boxing Promotion, G3 Boxing, Guts and Gloves, Courage Boxing Club, RRG Boxing Club, Midecali, Lebond Management, Jackfits, King of the Ring, and Monarch Events and Promotion.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Boxing legends and rising stars of the Nigerian ring gathered at the NIS Conference Hall of the National…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":772659,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[274154,703,274155,49,48,274156,56901,274157,181247,274158,82,266451,266452,274159],"class_list":["post-772658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-adejumola-toyin","tag-boxing","tag-boxing-nigeria","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fgm-boxing-awards","tag-ike-ibeabuchi","tag-lagos-boxing","tag-nigerian-boxing","tag-punch-newspaper","tag-sports","tag-sports-awards","tag-taiwo-agbaje","tag-yusuf-adisa-adeniji"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772658","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=772658"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772658\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/772659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=772658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=772658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=772658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}