Nigeria would probably have gotten its first ever boxing gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games if Anthony Joshua was not denied from representing the country.
Joshua, who won the World Heavyweight Boxing title on Saturday as millions watched globally, visited Nigeria in 2007 to vie for an opportunity to represent Nigeria at the Beijing Olympics the following year, but he was turned down by Nigerian boxing coaches.
“Joshua was in Nigeria once to connect with his roots and I think that was in 2007,” Jeremiah Okorodudu, former boxing champion told UK Sun.
“He wanted a chance to compete for trials ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics qualifiers, but he was denied and not given a chance.
“Disappointed, he went back to England to represent Great Britain.
“He went on to win a gold that could have been a first for Nigeria at the Olympics.
“If only they had allowed him to compete for Nigeria, that gold would have been a Nigerian gold and not Great Britain’s.”
Adegboyega Adeniji-Adele, a Nigerian boxing coach, said he was aware of Joshua’s presence at the Nigerian camp back in 2009.
“Oluwafemi Olaseni Joshua is his name and his family come from Ogun state in Nigeria,” he said.
“When he visited, his intention was to represent Nigeria at the Olympics but he was denied in the trials.
“He had no other option than to go to Britain.
“It’s Nigeria’s loss, Britain’s gain.
“Personally, I feel sad that they let him go and those people should be made to explain why it was impossible to give him a chance.”
Obisia Nwakpa, the chief coach of the Nigerian boxing team at the 2008 Olympics, was the one who turned Joshua down. He said his decision was simply because Joshua “was not good enough”.
“We made the right call then, because he wasn’t good enough and we picked someone who was much better,” Nwakpa said.
Nwankpa, however, said that his other reason was because Joshua showed up later than the time he was asked to come for the trials.
“He reached out to us, asking to be part of our Olympic team, so we invited him to come down and take part in trials,” Nwankpa said.
“Unfortunately, he did not appear when we asked him to and came down only when we had finished our trials, finalised our team and were about to travel for a training tour. Maybe other coaches would have accepted it, but I could not.
“It’s a pity he did not get his chance at that time, but the two boxers we selected then, Durodola Olanrewaju and Onorede Ohwarieme, were outstanding and experienced and there was no way I was going to drop them for somebody I had not even seen.”
Joshua won the heavyweight gold medal at the London 2012 Olympic games and became a professional, winning 19 fights all by knockouts before shocking the world with the spectacular victory over Klitschko