Nigerian-American boxer Emeka Nwokolo successfully defended his WBA North American Boxing Association (NABA) super welterweight title with an electrifying second-round knockout over British-Polish fighter Nathan McIntosh on Saturday at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield, Massachusetts. This victory marked Nwokolo’s seventh consecutive win, extending his impressive professional record to 14 wins, one loss, with 12 of those victories coming by knockout.
Speaking about his win, Nwokolo revealed that McIntosh’s pre-fight comments had motivated him to perform at his best. “During the face-off, my opponent was challenging me in a disrespectful way, saying he was going to take my belt. That really fired me up and brought out my warrior spirit, which was on full display in the match,” he said. Despite McIntosh’s bravado, Nwokolo never took his foot off the pedal, continuously applying pressure. After the knockout, McIntosh, acknowledging the overwhelming power of the punch, approached Nwokolo in the ring and apologized for his earlier comments, admitting he had never experienced such force in the ring.
The 31-year-old fighter, based in Los Angeles, had expressed confidence ahead of the bout, which served as the co-main event at the Down & Dirty Boxing XVI Spring Break Edition. “I’ve done everything on my part, now it’s time to get into the ring and do the business,” Nwokolo said the night before the fight.
Nwokolo, who is the son of Nigerian boxing legend Charles Nwokolo, entered the ring after recovering from a hand injury that had briefly sidelined him earlier in the year. Any concerns regarding his injury were quickly dismissed as he unleashed his full power, dominating McIntosh with ease.
The win further solidified Nwokolo’s impressive run as a champion. In June 2024, he claimed both the WBA NABA super welterweight title and the UBO world super welterweight belt after a dominant win over Colombia’s Jeovanis Barraza. Nwokolo’s performance in that fight, which was the headline event of “Down & Dirty 10,” saw him score a unanimous decision victory with judges’ scores of 120-108, 120-108, and 118-110.
After the fight, the reigning Universal Boxing Organisation Boxer of the Year expressed his gratitude to his supporters on social media. “I am humble and grateful and feel blessed beyond words. This win is for everyone who’s been on this journey with me — the ups, the downs, the grind. Thank you for believing in me. We keep building,” Nwokolo wrote.
Looking ahead, Michael Reyes, founder of Reyes Boxing Inc., hinted that Nwokolo could be in line for a major showdown at another Down & Dirty event scheduled for later this year, possibly in September or October. The boxer, who made a visit to Nigeria in 2024 where he donated boxing kits to young fighters in Lagos, has expressed a desire to fight in his homeland. “By next year (2025), by the grace of God, I’ll have a fight coming up in Nigeria. I’m planning to fight in Lagos or in my hometown, where my dad comes from, in Anambra,” Nwokolo shared during a press briefing at the Nigeria Boxing Board of Control office in Lagos.
