AHMED Bola Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos State and a national leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, is to face Evander Holyfield, a five-time world boxing champion in a match called the Rumble, in Lagos, on May 25. The bout which is billed to hold at the Landmark Event Centre, Lagos, will be refereed by Wole Soyinka, a professor of English Language and Nobel laureate.

The top-bill charity-focused showbiz event is the first of its kind on the African continent, was formally announced in Atlanta, Georgia on March 23, 2017, by Soyinka and Holyfield.

Receiving the Rumble Belt presented by Wole Adeniyi, the CEO of ACI Entertainment, Tinubu in response to Holyfield message to him, said that he couldn’t wait to face-off against Holyfield in his native Nigeria and knock him down convincingly, in the second round!

In any case, Adeniyi told the former governor that the belt arrived Lagos from Atlanta on Sunday, May 7, 2017 and it would begin touring to friends and supporters from Tuesday, May 9, 2017.

Tinubu officially received “The Rumble” Promoter at his office on Monday, May 8, as well as The Rumble Belt in readiness for the boxing bout.  The Rumble event is part of Lagos at 50 Special Edition under the supervision of the Nobel laureate. The project is in line with vision of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State to put Lagos on the global sport entertainment map.

The event is aimed at celebrating Lagos @ 50 and most importantly to bring worldwide attention to health-related issues in Africa like Autism in Children, Breast Cancer, Mental illness, HIV/AIDS, River Blindness, and the plight of Africans Living with Disabilities etc.

The event will donate medical and relief materials worth millions of dollars to the Lagos State government.

Some of the proceeds from the event will also benefit not-for-profit organisations and agencies in Lagos that cater to and are engaged in research programs that are out to eradicate these medical conditions.

—  May 9, 2017 @ 19:05 GMT