Jeremiah Okorodudu: 7 things about Nigerian Olympian that hospital seized his corpse

One of Nigeria’s representatives at the Olympics has gone to the great beyond but even after that, his family has been unable to claim his corpse.

Former Nigerian boxer Jeremiah Okorodudu passed away on Wednesday night. Before his demise, he received treatment at a private hospital in Lawandon, Lagos state.

The 64-year-old had battled foot ulcer and suffered stroke which kept him bedridden for many weeks.

Pulse Sports reported that unpaid medical fees up to the tune of N600,000 made the hospital seize the corpse of the Olympian. 

In this report, we highlight 7 things we know about the ex-athlete who served his nation to the best of his abilities.

1. Who is Jeremiah Okorodudu

Jerermiah Okorodudu is a Nigerian middleweight boxer. He was born on 24 May 1959, and has represented the country, including at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Boxing fans in Nigeria will remember Jeremiah Okorodudu as on the finest boxers the country had in the 80s because he was a household name back then.

He is an indigene of Delta state but grew up in Edo state, Nigeria. Jeremiah Okorodudu popularly called “Jerry” married Adenike Okorodudu and they have kids together.

In an interview with The Sun, Jerry recalled how he usually visited the stadium to watch boxers train and that he was into Judo and all combat sports but someone advised him to go for boxing. 

“During that time, whenever we were playing Table Tennis and I am defeated, I would turn it to fight and refused to leave the scene. It was as a result of my frequent fighting that I was asked to go for boxing. And that was how I went into boxing and took it as a career. My mum approved of it, but my dad was against me going into boxing.”

 2. A glittering boxing career

Jerermiah Okorodudu was made for the stars and shine did he when his time came. He was invited to the 1979 National Sports Festival in Ibadan tagged Oluyole ‘79 and there Jerry proved his mettle by winning Gold at the inter­mediate category.

He was also invited for trials ahead of the 1980 Olympics, but the authorities felt he was too small and then decamped him.

However, Jeremiah continued to show the stuff he was made of, and between 1979 and when he left amateur boxing, he did not suffer a single defeat to any Nigerian boxer.

At the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia, Jerry won another gold but fell short at the quarter­finals of the World Boxing Championship that same year.

Jeremiah Okorodudu won a silver medal at the first Commonwealth Boxing Champion­ship in Northern Island in 1983. 

That is not all; before the 1984 Olympics, a pre-olympic championship held in Germany where he narrowly lost to a Hungarian in the final. Of the 13 African boxers at that championship, Jerry was named African Best Boxer of the Year for being the only Afri­can that made it to the final.

He was back at the 1984 Olympic Games representing his fatherland, however, he was controversially declared the loser to an American Virgin Hill in the quarterfinals.

The boxing icon said the quarterfinal loss was a big blow to him because he had trained extremely well for that competition.

“My most memorable game is the 1984 Olympics. The quarterfinals loss struck me like a thunderbolt. It made me to lose so many things. I trained from 1982 for that championship. It was sad.”

3. His love for polygamy and children

The late Olympian had a penchant for women and in fact, was married to two while he kept several others.

He got married to his first wife Susan an Ameriacn lady whom he met at the Olympic Games village. Susan, a student at the University of Southern California, USA at the time was a volunteer at the Olympics. 

The pair met at a music competition where Okorodudu was called upon to sing. He sang ‘I Need Someone,’ a song by Reverend Christ Okotie, who used to be a rockstar in the 80s.

Susan was blown away and she got close and inquired where Okorodudu was from and the rest they say is history.

They got married after Susan introduced the boxer to her family. The couple have two children Leticia and Durin from the union.     

Jeremiah later remarried when he tied the knot with a Nigerian woman Adenike Okorodudu, an Army Officer. 

He said he loves making babies and even named one of his daughters Omojewe which means “I love children” in his dialect.

The Olympian also once claimed that polygamy was good for him. However, after he got born again, he changed his ways.  

4. His favourite hairstyle

During his haydays, the pugilist was known to always spot jerry currly hairs. He was fond of this style and it quickly became one of his trademarks.

He later revealed that he wore jerry curls in a bid to carve out a unique identify for himself. To him, the jerry curls were a treademark symbol.    

5. Muhammad Ali’s Influence on him 

Without a doubt, three-time heavyweight boxing champion, Muhammad Ali remains the greatest-ever boxer in the history of the sport and it is little wonder that Jeremiah spoke highly of him.

Muhammad Ali’s historic re-match against Joe Frazier in 1974 had a lot of influence on the then-15-year-old Jeremiah Okorodudu. He said,

 “I didn’t watch that particular fight, but I read it on pages of newspapers and I was really inspired by what Ali did to Frazier.”

Jeremiah Okorodudu also tried on many occasions to meet with his boxing icon but all efforts proved abortive.

“I was in California from 1985 to 1993, and in all these years, I did everything possible to see Muhammad Ali, who was then living in the city of Levada.”

He told The Guardian that there was a time in his boxing career that people called him the ‘Mohammad Ali’ of Nigerian boxing.

“I will always remember him as the man behind my success in boxing because I always tried to imitate him inside the ring. There was a time in my boxing career that people called me the Muhammad Ali of Nigeria.” 

6. His battle with illness

Jermiah’s battle with illness started in 2020 when he suffered from foot ulcer that detoriated into stroke.

Many ex-boxers and sportsmen came to his aid, contributing financially. He underwent a successful major operation that same year and was said to be recuperating.

However, three years later, he suffered relapse and had to be transferred from one hospital to another because of a lack of funds.

On Wednesday night, Jeremiah Okorodudu gave up at a private hospital in Lagos, but his wife was unable to retrieve his corpse because of a debt of N600,000.

7. Controversies with the Ministry of Sports

In 2018, Jeremiah Okorodudu’s contract with the Ministry of Sports was terminated and this was on the back of the Sports Ministry oweing him a backlog of salaries. 

However, The Guardian confirmed that his three months arrears was later paid by the Sports Ministry 24 months after.

The Sun reported that the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the Ministry of Sports had earlier relieved Jerry of his duties for abandoning his post without permission, but he was reinstated by former Minister of Sports, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi and the Direc­tor General (DG) of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Gbenga Elegbeleye.

Since 2020, the pugilist had been without a job and his wife Adenike has been the one taking care of him and footing all the bills.