Former African Boxing Union light heavyweight champion Joe Lasisi has thrown a challenge to the authorities in Nigeria to set up a boxing academy which would serve as a platform for the nation to get crack boxers for future competitions.

The retired Customs officer in a chat with Tribunesport in Lagos said that his preoccupation remains how to produce a world champion for the country in no time.

“Since I retired from the Nigeria Customs and Excise in 2007, I have been living a private life but I want to be challenged by the sport authorities in this country.

I want them to set up a boxing academy and provide an enabling environment for me to groom future boxers for this country.

“I want to produce a world champion for Nigeria in the future because we have a lot of talented teenagers out there who can achieve better than what we achieved during our time.

“The kids should be from the age of 10. I want to put my wealth of experience to bear on this project and God willing, the desired result would be achieved,” said Smoking Joe, who lost the WBA light heavyweight crown in 1989 to American Virgil Hill.

He decried the state of boxing in Nigeria, saying that lack of planning and funding are the issues to be tackled for the nation to regain its lost glory in the sport.

“We need to give our youths solid foundation to build their career in boxing and that is planning but this would only give us the desired result with proper funding. We have to provide the equipment and kits needed by these young aspiring boxers to train with and also ensure that nothing disrupts their academics.

“Look at these professional boxers around, they have to bank on other vocations for survival because what they will earn as their purse is just too inadequate to sustain them, Nigeria has equally lost its number position in African boxing today. Our amateur boxers don’t get the right atmosphere to prepare and so, it will be difficult for them to win medals even at a sub-regional tournament. Imagine, we did not win one gold in boxing in the last two All Africa Games at Algiers 2007 and Maputo 2011,” said the Kwara State born Lasisi.