OYO State Amateur Boxing Association (OSABA) Chairman, Baron Akintunde Opaleye, has thanked the monarch, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi, for his undying love and support to sports in the state, especially to the game of boxing.
Opaleye, who made the call while speaking with newsmen in Ibadan, described the Alaafin as a strong pillar behind the sustenance of boxing in the state.
He also pleaded with well-meaning Nigerians for financial support for ailing former Commonwealth Champion, Dele Jonathan, who is currently bedridden at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan.
The one-time most feared Commonwealth boxing champion is now at the mercy of doctors treating him for enlarged prostate gland, medically known as Benyn prostatic Hypertrophy at the South/East Ward Two of the University College Hospital.
The septuagenarian was one of the sportsmen who had made Nigeria the envy of many in the 1970s and early 80s.
Jonathan won the Commonwealth lightweight boxing title on May 3, 1975 after beating Jim watt at the Nation Stadium, Lagos.
According to Opaleye, the Alaafin of Oyo donated N300, 000 towards the treatment of the former boxing champion with a pledge to be giving him a monthly allowance for his up-keep.
