Fight to live

It’s Christmas. The day Christians set aside to celebrate the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Many people look forward to the day with glee. But for the family of professional wrestler Christopher Ifeanyichukwu (aka Lion Man), there will be no merry Chrsitmas.

He left his home on Sunday, hale and hearty for the National Stadium to fight Power Lee. He never beat his opponent; Lion Man lies prostrate in a morgue. His expectant wife is grieving. She has four kids to cater for- alone. Lion Man had the upper hand in the 12-round bout, but soon lost ground to his trimmer opponent, who in the 10th round slammed the much heavier Lion Man in an awkward manner on the canvass.

From the way Lion Man fell, he looked troubled. He held his right hand up with the five fingers outstretched- writhing in pain. Power Lee was savouring the fact that he had got Lion Man where he wanted.

Did I hear you ask where the referee was? Don’t be in a hurry. We will get to that aspect. Having seen that Lion Man offered no resistance, Power Lee stood up. He watched Lion Man roll with his last energy out of the ring onto the ground. He staggered back lazily, perhaps on impulse, but it was clear he was finished. He entered the rusty ring. He again offered no resistance as Power Lee confronted him. But this time, he seemed wiser; he held on tenaciously to the ropes.

Common knowledge tells me that when a wrestler holds the ropes, he may have accepted defeat, especially when he does nothing to provoke his opponent into a further fight. Sadly, Lion Man had no one in his corner. If he did, at that stage, he should have thrown in the towel. If Lion Man had a corner, he would not have died. He would have been in church, thanking God for everything that He had done for him, especially if he clinched the winners’ belt.

In the absence of a knowledgeable corner, the referee should have interpreted the rules to save Lion Man. Footage of the bout shown by Silverbird Television (Monday, Wednesday and Friday this week) showed where the referee was kicking the ropes that Lion Man held and that gave Power Lee the impetus to also kick it, until the dead wrestler was pulled into another round of pummeling.

Sadly, at this point, Power Lee knew something was wrong with Lion Man. From the ringside microphone, Lee was heard asking Lion Man: "Ol’ boy, wetin dey happen?" He was lying face down on the canvass to establish Lion Man’s situation. Of course, the shabbily dressed referee (he looked like a tyrant) was more interested in declaring Power Lee the winner, than what befell Lion Man. Lion Man staggered for about 30 seconds before his friend ran towards him and poured water on his back. Where was the ringside doctor? The footage didn’t show any medical hand coming to attend to Lion Man, as he was being led out of the ringside by his friend, who was joined by another person.

They carried the deceased on their shoulders. There was no medical attention. It was a gory sight seeing Lion Man’s remains inside a pick up van. Sympathisers stealing a look at him sighing, hissing and cursing as they walked away in anguish. Perhaps if there was a doctor and a well equipped ambulance at the stadium that night, Lion Man could have survived it.Unfortunately, we have been told of how a top member of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation, allegedly slapped his driver for daring to put Lion man’s body in the pick-up van which served as his pilot vehicle.

The federation member was quoted as saying: "Who put that thing inside the car? Take it out." This inhuman utterance drew the ire of bystanders who were miffed by the man’s mindless and morbid talk. Eventually, Lion Man’s body was taken to a hospital, Alone; all alone.

How was it possible for a wrestling bout to hold without a doctor and indeed corners for the wrestlers? Pity, they fought to die. In other words, the wrestlers committed suicide.

Who sanctioned the bout? Did the National Sports Commission (NSC), the owners of the Stadium in Lagos, authorise the bout to hold there? What is the name of the professional arm of wrestling in Nigeria? Is it true that a top brass of the Nigeria Wrestling Federation witnessed the bout, yet did not see anything wrong in staging the fight without a doctor and corners for the wrestlers? What has the federation done since Lion Man died? It hurts to read that the wrestling federation chairman accepted that fight’s medical plan was poor. It is also ridiculous that the wrestling federation chairman again accepted that there was no clinic in the Stadium? Can the acceptance of flaws bring back Lion Man?

Was there any weighing-in ceremony for the wrestlers? If yes, did doctors participate in the weighing-in ceremony, where the wrestlers’ medical fitness would have been ascertained