Nigeria’s former middleweight boxing champion, Jerry Okorodudu, who came to prominence at the Los Angeles 1984 Olympic Games, died Wednesday at a Lagos hospital. He was aged 64 years.
According to reports, the boxer, popularly known as ‘Urhobo Lips’ in his active days, was awaiting amputation of one of his legs when he gave up the ghost.
Some officials of the Nigerian Boxing Board of Control (NBB of C) confirmed the development.
An official of the boxing body, Laguda, reportedly said that Okorodudu died Wednesday evening at a Lagos hospital after a protracted ailment.
Okorodudu, a bronze medalist at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia, was controversially edged out at the quarterfinals of the 1984 Olympic Games by Virgil Hills of the United States.
Before then, he had won a gold medal at the National Sports Festival, Oluyole ’79. He had 83 amateur fights and 40 professional bouts between 1986 and 1992.