Rotimi Amaechi Minister of Transportation hosted American boxing champion, Floyd Mayweather in Abuja at the weekend.
The sportsman, who is now a promoter of boxing, said his visit to Nigeria was part of the plan “to find the next Mayweather”.
“It’s all about giving back, helping the youths and the young generation coming up. I want to build a boxing camp for the kids. Different American trainers will come over and work with them.
“There are so many talents in the sports world over there in the United States, and Africa is dominating in the US now. There are so many hidden talents, so many skills, so we want the world to see these skills.
“We don’t want it to be hidden, like I was able to display my skills and talents to the world, here I am today. I want to build an academy just for the children to grow.”
He added that he would return to the country in the future “to train and continue to build my legacy”.
“Before I go to Dubai, I couldn’t choose a better place than Nigeria. I look forward to coming back to Nigeria to train and continue to build my legacy, and we also want to help build a boxing camp for the young youth and children coming up. With the help of Keane [Anis], one of my closest buddies, who is from Nigeria,” he said.
“It’s all about giving back. A while back, I knew we were supposed to come to Nigeria, but things did not go as expected, I’m here now, and I’m proud.
“Being in Africa and being able to travel around the continent. I’ve been to Johannesburg, Morrocco, Egypt and now Nigeria. And, hopefully, before I’m gone, I get to see every country in Africa. Such a beautiful place. Africans worldwide show me love, and there’s nothing like African love.”
On his part, Amaechi told Mayweather that the Federal Government would support any initiative to harness more talents in the country.
