The ‘rumble’ that never was
The hype was so intense at a point people feared something fatal was likely to happen in the ring on the D-day.
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The race to gain the upper hand in the bragging rights; the scuppering of the original fight date on the ground of religious belief; the threat of another postponement on account of the ban on noise making and the last-minute row over the fight purse had all combined to build an unusual and weighty suspense around the bout.
There was the earth-shaking Floyd Klutei Robertson-Joe Tetteh bout in the early sixties that reduced all other things to insignificance in terms of attention.
However, no bout to date had fired the imagination of the entire country like the Bukom Banku-Ayittey Powers showdown at the local level of the sport.
It was no surprise, therefore, that thousands of boxing-starved Ghanaians of both sexes trooped to the Accra Sports Stadium on May 15, 2014, to quench their thirst.
They were looking forward to nothing less than a rumble at the nation’s premier stadium, but when the two boxers were left alone in the ring with the referee, what unfolded was an apology for a rumble.
From beginning to end, Bukom Banku never deviated from his style of fighting – attacking and pinning his opponent to the ropes.
Powers, all the pre-bout big talk notwithstanding, did nothing to show that he was a boxer hungry for victory on the night.
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He appeared more like a fighter who was more concerned about not getting knocked out by his opponent than putting up a commendable performance. Without doubt, he bored many fans on the night.
For me, the biggest benefit of the night was not the bout itself, but the massive attendance that simply confounded even the most ardent followers of the sport.
As I watched the fans stream to the Accra Stadium, I couldn’t help asking myself what had suddenly worked the magic for Ghanaians to appreciate the need to patronise boxing in such a wonderful manner.
There is no doubt that the hype and all the controversy that marked the fight contributed in no small way to that.
The satisfaction we can derive from the May 15 fight is that once we produce good fighters and package bouts very well, the glory days of boxing will be here sooner than later. It’s all a matter of sustainable planning.
The same kind of approach can be used to engender momentum in the difficult task of getting football and other sports back to the good times of old.