Wale “Lucky Boy” Omotoso
Photo courtesy Top Rank

Unbeaten Nigerian prizefighter Wale “Lucky Boy” Omotoso is moving closer to a world title shot after defeating Puerto Rico’s Daniel Sostre over the weekend in a welterweight bout in Las Vegas, Nevada. Fighting at the Thomas and Mack Center, an arena located on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Lucky Boy (23-0, 19 KOs) dominated the action, with the three judges scoring it 80-72, 79-73 and 79-73, all in favor of Omotoso.

Omotoso’s rise in the rankings is being watched and guided by Freddie Roach, the Hall of Fame trainer who runs the Wild Card Boxing Club in

It’s not a stretch to say Wale “Lucky Boy” Omotoso is one of pro boxing’s top welterweights. Photo courtesy Top Rank.

Hollywood, California. The Nigerian fighter says he’s lucky to have Roach as his trainer, and he’s lucky to be based in the Los Angeles area after a challenging, violent and dangerous childhood in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital. Omotoso says he learned to fight as a member of a street gang in Lagos. He says as a boy he saw people shot and he learned to run zigzag to avoid bullets.

Omotoso fought his first 18 pro bouts in Australia and then he moved to the United States, where he signed with Top Rank Boxing, a company that has promoted some of the sport’s greatest fighters, including Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and Manny Pacquiao. With a little luck, Top Rank might have another world champion soon in Wale “Lucky Boy” Omotoso.