Balmoral Promotions combined celebrity boxing with professional contests at its Chaos in the Ring event at the Federal Palace Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital. The October 1, 2026, card continued into early October 2. Its chief executive says the format is intended to attract viewers to the sport.
Nigerian content creator Oderhohwo Joseph Efe, known as Carter Efe, defeated Nigerian rapper Darlington Okoye, known as Speed Darlington. Nigerian reality television personality Ijeoma Josephina Otabor, known as Phyna, beat Nigerian actress Nkechi Blessing Sunday, according to winner announcements by Balmoral Promotions.
Different Contests on One Programme
Okay News reports that the advance schedule published by betting company and event sponsor Bet9ja listed both celebrity contests for four rounds.
The professional bout between Nigeria’s Godday Appah and Ghana’s Seth Gyimah, known as Freezy MacBones, was scheduled for 10 rounds at light-heavyweight. The Guardian’s pre-event coverage billed their contest as a World Boxing Organization African light-heavyweight championship fight.
Bet9ja also allocated four rounds to the opening bout, a pairing included in The Guardian’s professional-card preview. Short contests therefore appeared in both parts of the programme, and round count alone did not separate celebrity appearances from the professional fights.
The advertised order placed Appah against Gyimah immediately before the celebrity contests, followed by Phyna against Nkechi Blessing and then Carter Efe against Speed Darlington. The timetable cautioned that starting times could change depending on earlier bouts.
Why the Promoter Includes Celebrities
Ezekiel Adamu, chief executive of Balmoral Promotions, described the audience strategy at the pre-event conference. In comments published by THISDAY, he said professional fighters were central to the event, while the entertainers were selected for their ability to attract attention.
He gave a more direct explanation in a September interview with BusinessDay: “We need the influencers because they bring the eyeballs, while we need the professionals because they keep people watching boxing.”
That is the promoter’s rationale for sharing the programme: people following an entertainer encounter professional fighters within the same event. It remains an audience-building aim; the interviews do not establish how many celebrity followers become regular boxing viewers.
Adamu also told BusinessDay that Balmoral wanted to develop African boxing talent and earn income from broadcasting and content. He described an operation that would include streaming and media rights, with the eventual ambition of allowing other promoters to use its services.
For the October 1 event, Bet9ja’s advance announcement said its TikTok channel would carry the whole programme, from the opening contest through the final celebrity fight.
