Twelve-year-old Sultan Adekoya already has a WBC belt to his name after shining at an exhibition event in Lagos. He is highly rated in his native Nigeria and the wider boxing world. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

Sultan Adekoya jogged into a courtyard surrounded by several two-story buildings still under construction in the Egbeda area of Lagos, Nigeria's most populous city, to join other kids and adults for a routine boxing drill.

Warming up for the day's training, the 12-year-old boy shadowboxed and practiced fast-moving footwork on the red clay ground while awaiting the instruction of his coach, Taiwo Adegbite, who was busy correcting the moves and punches of other trainees who had arrived earlier.

Adegbite, also known as Coach Tipo, described Adekoya as a "strong and very hardworking kid" with a rare pugilistic talent.

Videos of Adekoya's extraordinary performances in training and competitions have gone viral online. Nigeria's Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Akin Dare, last month said of the youngster on social media: "There is gold in this kid."

"People know him very well. He is doing really well," Adegbite told Xinhua, noting that Adekoya is so far undefeated in over 60 amateur bouts, including exhibition events.

In 2016, the kid fighter was presented with a World Boxing Council (WBC) belt after emerging as the Most Promising Boxer at WBC Cares, an exhibition event in Lagos featuring at least 40 young boxers, aged 5-16.

According to Taiwo Adegbite, also known as Coach Tipo, boxing in Nigeria is next to soccer in terms of popularity. However, unlike soccer, the boxing culture in the west African country is not well-developed, with promising fighters usually lacking the necessary support to take the next step up in their careers

Adegbite said he has every confidence in Adekoya, who still has the same passion for the sport that he had when he first tried on a pair of boxing gloves, about seven years ago.

"Sultan came on his own to one of the training sessions outside my house," the coach said.

"He was just walking on the streets when he saw us. He was 5 years old back then.

"He ran up to us and picked up my gloves without permission. He started throwing jabs and hitting people."

Adekoya was told to bring his parents along with him. "I was surprised to see him arrive early in the morning with his parents," Adegbite said.

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"They agreed that he could learn to box. Since then he started training."

Humble origins

"I love boxing. I want to take boxing as my career," Adekoya told Xinhua in an interview, listing Nigeria-born British boxer Anthony Joshua and American pound-for-pound great Floyd Mayweather as his idols.

From Monday to Friday, he trains after school, and during weekends, he works out all day and sometimes takes part in competitions.

In this undated file photo, twelve-year-old Sultan Adekoya sometimes train outdoors in the Egbeda area of Lagos, Nigeria, because of a lack of equipment in gyms and boxing clubs. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

Born and raised in the neighborhood of Egbeda, a low-income suburb of Lagos, Adekoya lives with his parents and kid sister in a small rented room in a compound housing 15 other families.

"Sultan has brought fame to our family. A lot of people point at me at the bus stop and say: 'That is Sultan's dad going over there,'" Tosin Adekoya told Xinhua at their tiny residence, where all the kid's medals, certificates and prizes, including the WBC belt, are on display.

Tosin, a 40-year-old auto mechanic, expects a good offer for his son to help the boy's career "100 percent".

According to Coach Tipo, boxing in Nigeria is next to soccer in terms of popularity. However, unlike soccer, the boxing culture in the west African country is not well-developed, with promising fighters usually lacking the necessary support to take the next step up in their careers.

He said although several Nigeria-born boxers－such as two-time unified world heavyweight champion Joshua－have earned fame internationally or regionally, few of them were "made in Nigeria by Nigeria".

Adegbite said a major challenge facing grassroots boxing clubs like his Tipo Boxing Academy, which was founded about nine years ago, is that they often lack proper boxing equipment and sometimes conduct training outdoors.

Adegbite said he continues to persevere with coaching at his academy because of his passion for boxing. However, he has no sponsors and some of his trainees are unable to afford his tutelage.

"If I say that I want to charge some money and you bring your boy that has the talent and is willing to learn. If I tell him to bring money and he couldn't afford it, he will just keep the talent at home," Adegbite said.

"These kids don't even have enough money to eat."

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He added that greater investment is needed in Nigerian boxing in anticipation of a brighter and rewarding future for the sport in the west African nation.