By: Maxwell Woyram Tsigbe
The Ghana Boxing Authority (GBA) has officially confirmed that Nigeria’s Gabriel Oluwasegun Olanrewaju (a.k.a Success) who met his untimely demise on Saturday night, March 29, 2025, during a bout in Ghana, was medically declared fit for the bout before the competition.
This follows rising concerns and scepticism as to whether the GBA knew the boxer’s current health status before engaging him in the fight.
The GBA, in a statement, asserted that Gabriel Oluwasegun Olanrewaju received medical clearance before facing Ghanaian boxer John Mbanugu at the Bukom Boxing Arena in the national capital, Accra.
“Oluwasegun was declared medically fit by the Nigeria Boxing Board Control with his certification as a professional boxer before the GBA sanctioned and approved the international contest,” the statement said.
It also recounted how the deceased boxer dominated the first round of the bout but fell unexpectedly onto the ring without any threatening punch from his opponent in the dying seconds of round 3 leading to his tragic death.
“Oluwasegun, a few seconds before the end of round 3, stepped back during the fight and leaned on the ropes with his back without any punch whatsoever from his opponent.”
“The referee, Richard Amevi, sensing danger, waved his hand for the end of the fight and immediately invited the ringside physician, with the support from of paramedics from the national ambulance service to attend to the boxer to help resuscitate him,” the statement added.
Meanwhile, the President of the Ghana Boxing Authority (GBA), Abraham Kotei Neequaye, has informed the Secretary of the Nigeria Boxing Board Control and Ghana’s Sports Minister – Kofi Adams about the unfortunate incident. The Authority, with the help of the Ghana Police Service subsequently moved the body to the main mortuary for preservation.