Boxer Izonritei aims a step higher than brother

LAGOS (Reuters) -- Emmanuel Izonritei first made his name as a bruiser on the mean streets of Lagos, where he beat up a bigger boy who was the "terror" of the neighbourhood.

Now he wants to get the better of his big brother, David, who won silver at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, by bringing back the gold medal for the West African country in heavyweight boxing at August's Athens Games.

"My brother was a raging bull but people say I'm better than him," Izonritei told Reuters in an interview in Lagos.

"I've speed and skills and my hands move like pistons inside a car engine."

No Nigerian has won Olympics boxing's top honour. Africa's most populous country has produced only two golds -- in men's soccer in 1996 and in women's long jump the same year when Chioma Ajunwa triumphed.

Izonritei junior, a gold medallist at last year's All-Africa Games in Abuja, is among seven boxers who will represent Nigeria at the Athens Games, which start on August 13.

He knows it will not be an easy ride in a category which has produced some of the toughest fights in Olympics history. But his nickname of "African Gladiator," earned at the Afro-Asian Games last year in India where he won gold, has helped to shore up his self-belief.

JUNGLE CITY

His current service in the Nigerian Air Force had also given him the discipline to work for the title, he said.

Izonritei's first contact with boxing came when he was growing up in Ajegunle, a residential slum of Lagos nicknamed 'Jungle City' because of its rampant crime, violence and drugs.

"You just had to defend yourself. That's how I started using my fists and gained a reputation after beating a bigger boy, a terror in my neighbourhood," he said.

For eight years, he moonlighted as a bus driver after school and got into many fights with other drivers for control of the lucrative routes through the sprawling metropolis.

"I took to bus driving because I wanted to be a leader, have a kingdom where I'd be in charge," he said.

Izonritei, now 25, began his formal boxing career at the age of 14 and recalled that the early days were tough.

BARE KNUCKLES

"I shared my time between bus driving and training. Boxers shared gloves or used bare knuckles to hit punchbags -- sacks filled with sand and pebbles.

"My fists hurt but were as tough as nails. The coach used to say: 'If you want to be the best, train hard to beat the best'. That is my motto."

In 2000, Izonritei became the national champion, but over the following two years the dream of imprinting his name on the hearts of Nigeria's 130 million people almost evaporated.

Violent ethnic and sectarian clashes spread across four central Nigerian states in 2001, prompting the government to deploy a combined military force in the area to restore order.

Izonritei had to forget about boxing as he was part of the squad and he harrowingly remembers how he escaped death during many battles with armed militant youths.

"It was a scary experience but it helped me to be determined to face the challenges of life," he said.

Copyright 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.