By our reporter 5.9.2025
Nigeria’s female boxer Blessing Oraekwe has been sent packing from the World Boxing Championships on-going in Liverpool, England after she failed to submit her genetic and gender test result on time.
All female boxers are expected to undergo the tests mandated by the World Boxing Federation, but Oraekwe failed to beat the Thursday deadline for submission.
“I feel so sad,” Oraekwe told the BBC. “It was heartbreaking for me, because my plan was to come here and dominate in the ring and take the gold for my country.
“I know how I worked so hard for this, and I know how hard it was for my country. The Nigerian boxing federation gathered money for me and the other boxers to be here.
“They brought the tests late,” Oraekwe alleged. “All I want to say is for World Boxing to compensate us, because we have spent a lot.”
World Boxing has hit back, saying it “made it clear that testing [would] be the responsibility of national federations, as they have the closest links and most access to their boxers and are best placed to manage the testing process”.
Furthermore, it said federations had been warned on 21 August that sex-test results can take 48 hours to be processed, and that completing a test after 1 September “would jeopardise your athlete’s entry into the official draw and competition”. Teams were also apparently urged to factor in their arrival date, if they needed testing once in the UK.
Blessing Oraekwe...missing out the world boxing championships