“Making it in boxing is tough, so you have to take your opportunities.”
So says Nigerian Elizabeth Oshoba. The 23-year-old is a promising featherweight prospect currently fighting out of Bristol.
Originally from Ogun State in Western Nigeria, she won a silver medal at the 2022 Commonwealth games in Birmingham where she lost in the final to Ireland’s Michaela Walsh, then made the decision to turn professional.
What makes Oshoba’s case so unusual is that she chose to do that not in her home country, but in western England, supported by promotional company Neilson Boxing.
She is joined in this venture by Oluwatosin Kejawa, a 21-year-old super middleweight from Lagos. A former two-time Nigerian amateur champion, Kejawa shares Oshoba’s outlook.
“In Africa it is very hard to build a career as a boxer. There are no good promoters. It’s impossible to find sponsorship, but in the UK, things are different,” he says.
That’s not to say their move has been straightforward. The shift from living and training in Nigeria, to the Gloucestershire-Somerset border has involved a lot of adjustment.
“The weather is a big issue and of course the food,” Kejawa laughs.
“But the training facilities and the potential to develop are so much better.”
From punching sandbags to Commonwealth silver
Interested in many sports but especially football and table tennis, Oshoba grew up as a villager in a rural area. She admits she was reluctant at first to try boxing.
“When I was around 12, my brother had the idea for me to box, but I wasn’t keen,” she remembers.
“I didn’t know much about boxing and didn’t even know girls could do it. It seemed very risky. I was scared about getting hit in the face.”
In the end, Oshoba caved in, went to the local gym, and fell in love with the sport despite her initial misgivings. Fear was rapidly replaced with excitement.
“There were other female boxers there, which encouraged me, and I improved quickly,” she says.
“Although the gym was very basic. It had just one heavy bag, for example, which was filled with sand.”
From that starting point, Oshoba went on to have around 60 amateur fights, winning all but three, culminating in her Commonwealth medal.
By contrast, Kejawa began his journey with greater enthusiasm. He grew up in Bariga, a poor district of Lagos, where he was fascinated with combat sports from a young age.
“As a kid I especially loved wrestling” he explains. “WWE, all that stuff.
“I used to enjoy kung fu movies as well, Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and all those guys. Then when I was around seven years old, a boxing coach moved into the compound where I lived.
“It was so lucky. He began training kids right there and I joined in. It all took off fast.
“I had my first competitive fight at eight years old and I’ve been boxing ever since.”
By the time he was in his teens, Kejawa had established himself as one of Nigeria’s top amateur fighters.
As many young people do, he began posting updates and videos to social media, not knowing that it would lead to something unexpected.
Both boxers found their lives changed when they were approached online by Somerset-based businessman Sean Murray.