Board member of the Nigeria Boxing Board of Control (NBB of C), Dr. Rafiu Ladipo, has tipped unbeaten Nigerian boxer, Lateef ‘Power’ Kayode, to win the vacant interim World Boxing Association (WBA) heavyweight title fight against fellow unbeaten Cuban, Luiz Ortiz.
Lateef Kayode
The WBA title fight has been slated for Las Vegas, United States of America on Thursday, September 11.
Ladipo, who said he had been following the progress of the Nigerian pugilist, expressed optimism that he (Kayode) will not disappoint himself and Nigerians as a whole.
He said: “I want to state that this is another opportunity for a Nigerian boxer to be world champion again after Samuel Peters, and Kayode is in the class of boxers that can deliver and will not disappoint the country.
“Unknown to many Nigerians, I have been following his boxing career and I see him as a potential world champion. Come Thursday, September 11, in Las Vegas, he should be able to make us proud.”
A victory for him could make him move a step closer to a showdown with World heavyweight boxing champion, Vladmir Klitschko.
Kayode, 31, who took his heavyweight bow last December in a second round Technical Knockout (TKO) win over American, Travis Fulton, has quickly set his focus on the title fight evacuated by Russia’s Aleksander Povetkin last October 5, 2013.
On December 3, 2010, he knocked out an American, Edward Charles Perry, on a Showtime boxing card. He showed a much more relaxed demeanour in the ring than in his previous ShoBox appearances.
In the 6th round, he perfectly placed a right hand down the pipe that connected the left side of Perry’s jaw, sending him sprawling to the ground once more. Perry had never touched the canvas in 13 years as a professional pugilist.
On June 10, 2011, Kayode proved too much for a game Matt Godfrey, then 19-3 with 14 KOs, at the Chumash Resort Casino. He controlled the entire fight and sent Godfrey to the canvas a total of three times, eventually winning by scores of 98-90, 97-90, 98-89.
He knocked Godfrey to the floor in rounds one, five and nine with a devastating display of body shots and power punches in the head.
Trained by the legendary Freddie Roach, Kayode currently holds the World Boxing Organisation (WBO), NABO and NABF Cruiserweight Championship belts and will look to add the WBA heavyweight belt when both fighters meet at the Hard Rock Casino in Las Vegas on Thursday.
He said: “I have waited a long time for a fight like this and I feel that this is finally my chance to shine.”
While the Nigerian boxer is currently ranked fifth in the WBA ratings with a fight record of 20-0 and 16KOs, his opponent is rated number two with 21-0 and 18KOs.
In their recent fights, Kayode stopped America’s Jonte Willis in the sixth round last January 10, while Ortiz, 35, beat veteran, Monte Barnet, last March.
