A former Nigerian boxer, Jeremiah Okorodudu otherwise called ‘Jerry’ has died.
Daily Report Nigeria reports that Okorodudu died on Wednesday June 28 in a private hospital in Lawandon, Lagos.
His wife, Adenike Okorordudu explained that Jeremiah Okorodudu battled a foot ulcer that kept him bedridden for weeks before his demise on Wednesday night.
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However, she said the hospital was unwilling to release her husband’s dead body until the outstanding six hundred thousand naira medical bill was paid.
She said:
“He is dead now but we still need to pay N600,000 to get his body out of the hospital.”
It was earlier reported last week that the 64-year-old Olympian was feeling better after several transfers from different hospitals, mainly due to lack of funds, before being taken to Lawanson Hospital.
The Secretary General of the Nigeria Boxing Board of Control and the President of the West Africa Boxing Union, Remi Aboderin, has also confirmed the death of the the boxer.
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Aboderin said:
“It is true about his death. I just confirmed it after you called me and I reached out to some colleagues.
“It is unfortunate that he died this way, and I am actually lost for words. May his soul rest in peace.”
Nigerian Boxing Federation Vice-president Azania Omo-Agege who also confirmed Jeremiah Okorodudu’s death revealed he sent his wife money for the former boxer’s hospital bills on Tuesday.
Omo-Agege said:
“I just sent them money yesterday (Tuesday). I sent them N100,000 and we were planning for the amputation (of his leg) on Friday, this is very sad.”
The late Olympian represented Nigeria at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics where he competed at middleweight.
He was a gold medalist at the 1979 Oluyole National Sports Festival in Ibadan.
His medical situation began in 2020 with a boil which affected his mobility. He was then successfully operated on at Dans Hospital, Ikorodu, Lagos. But his health deteriorated after he was diagnosed with a foot ulcer and suffered a stroke.
