How Ooni Ogunwusi boosted Joshua’s morale

Joshua displaying the letter written to him by the Ooni of Ife, in Wales, on friday. With him are Bob Olukoya(left) and Abiodun Ilori.

To boost his morale ahead of his fight against Cameroon-born Carlos Takam last Saturday, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi sent a goodwill message to the Nigeria-born Anthony Joshua.

Anthony Olufemi Joshua, 28, was born to Nigerian parents.

The monarch’s goodwill message, contained in a letter, was delivered to Joshua by Mr Bob Olukoya, a lawyer and sports administrator, in Cardiff, Wales, on Friday. Olukoya was accompanied by Mr Abiodun Ilori, media representative of the Nigerian Boxing Board of Control (NBB of C).

The four-paragraph letter, seen by Tribunesport and signed by the Ooni himself, was headlined ‘Goodwill Message Ahead of Your Title Defence Against Carlos Takam in Cardiff, Wales on 28th October 2017’.

In the letter dated 19th October, 2017, Oba Ogunwusi, who said he was writing the letter as the “Arole Oduduwa” (representative of Oduduwa), regretted that he could not personally be at the ringside to see Joshua’s bout live.

The monarch gave the reason to be his “tight schedule and preparations towards several end of the year cultural and traditional festivals here in Ile-Ife.”

To stand in for him, Oba Ogunwusi said in the letter that he had delegated his “aide, Mr Muyiwa Aromire, Mr Bob Olukoya Esq and his associate – Ben Gray to attend the fight and cheer you to victory.”

The traditional ruler added that it would be the joy of the Yoruba in Nigeria and all over the world to see Joshua win the fight and remain unbeaten until his retirement from boxing.

Oba Ogunwusi ended the letter by writing, “Good luck and God bless you ’Femi.”