The long-simmering feud between controversial entertainer Speed Darlington and Grammy-winning Afrobeats star Burna Boy has flared up again, with Darlington publicly daring his rival to step into the ring and even offering to help fund the bout out of his own pocket.
In comments made during a recent interview with Hip TV, the “Akpi” crooner born Okwuchukwu Okoye dismissed suggestions that Burna Boy’s global stardom would translate into ring dominance.
Darlington insisted the Grammy-winning artiste would not be able to beat him and said he was willing to donate money to make the proposed fight happen. “I challenge Burna Boy to fight me.
I will drop a huge sum just to fight him… He’s all hype. He can’t beat me. Just because some people like his music doesn’t mean he can beat me,” he said.
The remarks are only the latest salvo in a dispute that has simmered for nearly two years and repeatedly spilled from social media into real-world consequences.
Speed Darlington challenged Burna Boy to a boxing contest and repeated his hostility towards the singer at a September 10 press conference for the “Chaos in the Ring” boxing event, declaring, “Anytime, anywhere, boy. I would like to box your ribs in the ring, man.”
The controversy traces back to October 2024, when Speed Darlington was arrested and held in police custody after Burna Boy filed a defamation complaint against him.
The dispute arose after Darlington questioned the legitimacy of Burna Boy’s Grammy win for “Twice as Tall,” suggesting that the singer’s association with Sean “Diddy” Combs then facing serious legal troubles may have influenced the award, which led to accusations of cyberstalking and defamation.
Darlington’s mother later pleaded publicly for his release, and though he was eventually let go after weeks in detention, the feud never cooled; he went on to release a diss track, “Baby Oil,” aimed squarely at Burna Boy.
Darlington’s boxing troubles didn’t begin with Burna Boy. In April 2025, at the “Chaos in the Rings” event, Darlington broke his hand in the first round against street-hop artiste Portable and failed to come out for the second, handing Portable an automatic win. Burna Boy, who had been feuding with Darlington himself, rewarded Portable for the victory.
The Grammy winner gifted Portable a reported N20 million following his triumph, with Portable confirming the gift on Instagram: “N20 million from Burna Boy, if you want to be like Odogwu, can you do like Odogwu?”
Darlington’s fresh call-out comes just weeks before he’s due back in the ring this time against content creator and streamer Carter Efe, in a bout scheduled for October 1 at the Federal Palace Hotel in Lagos. Efe has vowed to beat Darlington in the fight, citing Darlington’s comments about Burna Boy as part of his motivation.
Whether Burna Boy will ever formally respond to Darlington’s challenge remains to be seen; the singer has so far preferred the courts and social silence to the ring.
But with Nigerian social media already in full pile-on mode over the latest taunts, the rivalry shows no sign of losing its audience, even if an actual Darlington Burna Boy bout remains, for now, only a fighting word.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Speed Darlington’s latest challenge to Burna Boy is less a serious fight proposal than the newest chapter in a personal feud dating back to 2024, one that has already seen Darlington arrested over defamation claims and beaten in a real boxing match by Portable, whom Burna Boy then rewarded with ₦20 million.
Despite the loud rhetoric, Burna Boy has never responded in kind, and Darlington’s boxing record (a broken hand, a loss) undercuts his claim that he “can’t be beaten. ” The real story isn’t the fight; it’s the ongoing pattern of online provocation, legal fallout, and celebrity spectacle that keeps the rivalry alive.
