"MY GOAL IS TO BECOME A WORLD CHAMPION" -- ADIJAT GBADAMOSI

 

Nigerian ABU Super-bantamweight champion Adijat "Dija" Gbadamosi who holds a professional record of eight fights, eight wins, winning five by knock out has vowed to become a world title holder in boxing by bringing more glory to Nigeria.

Adijat captured the Vacant ABU title after defeating Zimbabwe's Patience Mastara in the fifth round of 10-rounds Super-Bantamweight scheduled bout on friday, June 16th as the co-main event of "King of the Ring 3" at Bukom Boxing Arena in Accra, Ghana, to become the first Nigerian female boxer to do this.

Speaking at a press conference in Lagos on Wednesday, June 28th, which also had in attendance Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Monarch Group, Prince Stanley Williams, light heavyweight boxer Victor Beneth and Mr Ralph Chidozie Judge, Gbadamosi spoke on what motivated her to go all out to secure the African title and to make history in Nigerian women boxing.

“I felt confident because I had trained very hard and I didn’t want to loose the opportunity given to me to fight for the ABU title because we didn’t plan that I will fight for it this year we planned it for next year. Words cannot explain how happy I am to have won this title.“

The 2018  youth Olympics Silver medalist in Argentina expressed her excitement while thanking her Management 'Monarch Events and Promotions' for the great opportunity given to her to showcase her talent.

"Thanks to my management, Monarch Events and Promotions for giving me this great opportunity to showcase my talent to the world, I'm grateful for this".

She shared some of her memorable moments in boxing which was during her amateur days.

“My memorable moments was when I first travelled as an amateur,” she said. “I only did my passport but I didn’t believe I will be selected for the tournament in Morocco in 2018.

“Also, I remember my fight with a Moroccan opponent, my coach advised me that I have to put more pressure to stand a chance to win because I will not be given the fight. So when they raised my hand up I was surprised because I didn’t expect it I didn’t train well for the fight, I only trained for two weeks due to my WAEC exams.”

She has also promised to bring a world title to Nigeria next and called on the government and private sectors of the country to support boxing in Nigeria to make the game great.

"My next goal is to bring home world titles like the WBC, IBF, WBO, WBA and others, but to make this happen in a short time, I  have to plead with the government and the private sector to support boxing in Nigeria because the promoters can't do this alone.

Also I will like to present my newly won title to my state (Osun) governor, Ademola Adeleke, Lagos state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the President of Nigeria, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu, I know with prayers and support from them i will bring all the world title to Nigeria".

She talked on some of the challenges she had to face on her journey up which made her almost give up boxing but she overcame them and so encouraged other female athletes not to give up on their chosen career.

"There are a lot of challenges I faced during my boxing career, ranging from poor training facilities and equipment, discouragement from different source, and there were some times I wanted to give up but I got encouragement from my brother Mutiu, who would tell me that you know you have been doing this for long. You don’t have to give up if you give up now you are the one who would have wasted your time because you don’t have any other thing to fall back on only boxing. So that’s when I buckled up and continued training and eventually I got signed up by Monarch Promotions. I still continue pushing myself, and believing that one day I will become a world champion, and now I'm number one in Africa in my weight category and I still look forward to adding more titles to my waist.

My advice to other female athletes out there is that they should always keep their eyes focused on their dream and never let anyone discourage them from chasing their dreams.