Lagos — The Local Organising Committee of the Athens 2004 Olympics has invited the Nigeria Amateur Boxing Association (NABA), for a boxing tournament ahead of Athens 2004 Olympics slated for August this year.

The tourney, NABA scribe, Francis Gbiri said, is aimed at test-running facilities put in place for the games.

According to NABA, the tournament which also involves other Athens-bound countries, will afford Nigerian boxers opportunity to assess their level of preparedness for the Olympics.

Meanwhile, Effiong Asuquo is the latest Nigerian boxer to qualify for the boxing event of the Athens 2004 Olympics.

Out of the five athletes that represented Nigeria at the Olympic qualifiers in Botswana, only Asuquo made it to the final of his event.

This development has, however, compelled Coach Obisia Nwakpa, to call for more boxing championships for the Nigerian Olympics-bound boxers.

Nwakpa, a former Commonwealth Super Welterweight boxing champion, said he is not totally impressed with the fitness level of the Nigerian boxers.

"They need to regularly participate in boxing championships so that they can be sufficiently prepared for the Olympics," he added.

While commending the Sports Ministry for making the Botswana trip a reality, he called for greater support from the ministry, to enable Nigeria have a successful outing at the Olympics.

The boxers are expected to embark on a training tour, most likely in Cuba, before the Olympics. But the date for the training is yet to be announced because government is yet to make funds available.