Nigerian boxers are now earning more from professional fights than footballers competing in the country’s domestic leagues, according to Ezekiel Adamu, Chief Executive Officer of Balmoral Group Promotions and promoter of Chaos in the Ring.
Adamu said the commercial transformation of Nigerian boxing in recent years has enabled fighters who previously earned as little as N50,000 per bout to command significantly better financial rewards, arguing that the sport has now developed stronger commercial content than the domestic football league.
“Boxing in Nigeria has become a commercially viable industry,” Adamu said.
“You know how we started. At the time we started boxing, some of these boxers were earning N50,000 to fight, even after training for so long. We’ve commercialised it. We’ve brought in the brands, we’ve brought in the eyeballs, and we’ve brought in the national interest.
“Boxing has now become, at the moment in Nigeria, if you are to judge in terms of local content, boxing has better content than even football at the moment. Boxing is doing better than any Nigerian league.”
