Ifeanyi Onyekwere announced himself to the boxing world at 22 when he became the only Nigerian male boxer to return with a medal at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, United Kingdom (UK).
Onyekwere described his semifinal loss in Birmingham as a major disappointment for him. But the super heavyweight pugilist is determined to pick up from that blip by working harder for ultimate glory in the sport.
Before the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, little-known Onyekwere was not considered a potential medalist. But the world took notice after he knocked out Canada’s Marcel Mouafo Feujio in his first fight to qualify for the semifinal.
Onyekwere’s jabs combined with his punches proved too much for his opponent and his performance endeared him to the English fans.
However, Onyekwere’s run was halted by a controversial decision against India’s Sagar Sagar Ahlawat, who edged out the Nigerian from the top prize.
“I was very disappointed with the colour of my medal. It was very painful. I couldn’t bear the loss. I fought well in the semifinal. My loss was controversial. I fought with an injury sustained in my first fight. I fought through pain in the semifinal match. I tried my best to make sure I did not let my people in Nigeria and country down. To me, I won the fight but due to some politics in the game I lost out,” he lamented.
Onyekwere’s his first love was kickboxing in which he featured across several tournaments with a series of laurels to his credit. But by sheer coincidence, he veered into boxing and became instant national champion.
“The love for boxing attracted me to the sport. Initially, I started with kickboxing before I finally settled for boxing. I became the national super heavyweight champion and despite this, it was not easy making the team to the Commonwealth Games because I had to prove myself at the national tournament in Kaduna. I thank God for the strength and winning skills to make the team to Birmingham. I considered it a rare privilege for me to represent Nigeria at the Commonwealth Games,” Onyekwere stated.
Birmingham was Onyekwere’s first international outing. Of that experience, the boxer said: “Birmingham was my first international outing to a strange land and the lesson I picked was never to give up on your dreams. You might lose today but that does not mean you are a loser forever.”
However, Onyekwere insisted that his loss in the last four was not a true reflection of his quality as he matched most of his opponents, strength for strength in all his bouts at the Commonwealth Games.
Onyekwere regards Mohammed Ali and Lennox Lewis as his role models in boxing.
He eyes another shot at the podium at next year’s African Games in Ghana. “For now, my focus is to compete at the 2023 African Games in Ghana with the hope of making it to the podium before turning professional fully,” Onyekwere told sportsafricana.com
The Benson Idahosa University undergraduate, however, lamented the inability to be part of the African Championships in Mozambique which he said should have been used to consolidate Nigeria’s outing in Birmingham.
“It is sad that we could not make it to Mozambique because this would have given us the opportunity to again showcase our talents after the outing in Birmingham,” he said.
Onyekwere appealed to the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development to support boxing, saying the sport has the potential to reposition Nigeria on the world map like in the past when the first Olympics medal came from the sport.