Benin, officially the Republic of Benin and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its population lives on the small southern coastline of the Bight of Benin, part of the Gulf of Guinea in the northernmost tropical portion of the Atlantic Ocean. The capital of Benin is Porto-Novo, but the seat of government is in Cotonou, the country's largest city and economic capital. Benin covers an area of 114,763 square kilometres (44,310 sq mi) and its population in 2018 was estimated to be approximately 11.49 million. Benin is a tropical nation, highly dependent on agriculture, and is a large exporter of cotton and palm oil. Substantial employment and income arise from subsistence farming.
Henry Jackson Jr. was an American professional boxer and a world boxing champion who fought under the name Henry Armstrong.
Riddick Lamont Bowe is a retired American professional boxer who competed between 1989 and 2008. He reigned as the undisputed world heavyweight champion in 1992, and as an amateur he won a silver medal in the super heavyweight division at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
The Catholic Church in Benin is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.
Gabriel "Flash" Elorde was a Filipino professional boxer. He won the lineal super featherweight title in 1960. In 1963, he won the inaugural WBC and WBA super featherweight titles. He holds the record at super featherweight division for longest title reign, spanning seven years. Elorde is considered one of the best Filipino boxers of all time along with eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao and Pancho Villa, flyweight champion in the 1920s. He was much beloved in the Philippines as a sports and cultural icon, being the first Filipino international boxing champion since middleweight champion Ceferino Garcia.
Jacklord Bolaj Jacobs is a boxer from Nigeria, competing in the heavyweight division. As an amateur he represented Nigeria at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. A year later he won the silver medal at the 1993 World Amateur Boxing Championships in Tampere, Finland, where he was beaten in the final of the light heavyweight division by Cuba's Ramón Garbey.
Roman Greenberg is an Israeli former heavyweight boxer based in the United Kingdom, with Moldovan origins, former International Boxing Organization's (IBO's) Intercontinental heavyweight champion, with a 27–1 record. Greenberg has been nicknamed the "Lion from Zion."
Razak Omotoyossi is a Nigerian-born Beninese footballer who plays for USS Kraké and also for the Benin national football team. Omotoyossi who plays as a striker, has played in Nigeria, Egypt, Sweden, Saudi Arabia and France.
Eddie Valenzuela Barillas is a Guatemalan amateur boxer who qualified to the 2008 Olympic Games at flyweight.
Herman "Percy" Vear, born in Crossflatts, Bingley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England. He was a British professional boxer during the 1920s and 1930s.
Michel Dussuyer is a French football coach and former professional player who is currently the manager of Benin.
Martin Murray is a British professional boxer who has competed since 2007. He has held the WBA interim middleweight title from 2012 to 2014, the British and Commonwealth middleweight titles between 2010 and 2012, and challenged four times for a world title.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Benin, formerly Dahomey.
Elvis Mihailenko is a Latvian professional boxer, the first Latvian National boxing champion amongst professionals and first ever professional fighter from Latvia who won any of the major titles, as WBA Intercontinental champion and EBU-EU, and later defended it once more. He fought at the light-heavyweight division. Mihaiļenko never hired a big promoter, allowing him to travel around Europe to enjoy the training camps in the best gyms. He sparred with a number of great fighters, including such World champions as Joe Calzaghe, Mikkel Kessler, Zsolt Erdei, and David Haye.
Benin competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's tenth appearance at the Olympics, except the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal because of the African boycott.
Joseph "JoJo" Pedroza Diaz Jr. is an American professional boxer who has held the IBF junior lightweight title since January 2020. At regional level, he held the WBC-NABF, and WBO-NABO featherweight titles between 2015 and 2018. As an amateur he competed at the 2012 Olympics as a bantamweight.
Cédric Hountondji is a professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Clermont Foot and the Benin national football team.
Moïse Wilfrid Maoussé Adiléhou is a professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Turkish club Boluspor. Born in France, he represents Benin internationally.
Cebio Soukou is a German-born Beninese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder in Germany for Arminia Bielefeld.
Tevin Farmer is an American professional boxer who held the IBF super featherweight title from 2018 to January 2020. Farmer, who is right handed but fights in a southpaw stance, is known for his old school style and slick, defensive skills.
