LUYOYO’S AFBC PRO BOXING A LANDMARK PROJECT IN AFRICA

The de facto President of Africa Boxing Confederation (AFBC) group opposed to President Eyassu Berhanu’s current leadership, Ferdinand Ilunga Luyoyo, is set to make history on January 24 in Tunisia’s capital city, Tunis.

Known for his combative approach on governance issues, Luyoyo will curve a niche for himself as the brains behind the introduction of AFBC Pro Boxing which is aimed at empowering  African boxers financially.

“We have to start from somewhere, we can’t just be relying on IBA to do everything for us, we can also initiate our own tournaments,” said Luyuyo in an interview with Africa’s newest and fast-rising boxing site, boxersworld.co.ke, which has partnered with AFBC for the execution of this grand project.

Luyoyo, who is also the Congolese Boxing Federation President, is not new to pro boxing. He has a wealth of experience in the bare-chested game and owns Luyoyo Promotions which manages DR Congo’s  newly-crowned World Boxing Council (WBC) Africa cruiserweight champion Junior Makabu Ilunga who last December  knocked out Egypt’s Wagdy Attia in the third round to win the vacant WBC Africa cruiserweight title at the Stade de Martyrs in Kinshasa. The fight was organised by Luyoyo Promotions.

“Africa is rising, this is just the beginning, we intend to stage a series of AFBC Pro Boxing contests this year to inspire and empower our African boxers,” said Luyoyo, adding, “In future we would also like to see boxers from Europe, Asia and USA coming to Africa to compete against our boxers in prize money tournaments. With proper coordination between AFBC and our governments we will make it happen, there’s a lot of money in Africa.”

Luyoyo was also instrumental in the successful organisation of last year’s AFBC African Men’s and Women’s Boxing  Championships in DR Congo’s capital city, Kinshasa.

“We did it by ourselves without IBA’s funding unlike some of us who always run to the international body for financial support,” said Luyoyo.

“We need to give IBA a break at times, they’re doing a wonderful job worldwide, personally I really appreciate their contribution that’s why it’s important for us in Africa to initiate and fund our projects. We thank IBA a lot for their support.”