FEATURE: Is inactivity the bane of Ghanaian boxers?
It’s been over five years since Isaac Dogboe and Richard Commey took over the mantle of leadership in boxing on the world stage but despite their decline, no clear replacement had emerged.
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Before the duo became world champions in 2018 and 2019, the nation had laboured for over a decade without a new champion since Joshua Clottey won it against Zab Judah in August 2008.
The trend is becoming scary by the day, especially when the Ghana Boxing Authorities (GBA) continues to struggle to produce world beaters for the international stage.
My problem with the current-happening-turned-norm is that Ghana had never lacked talents in the fistic sport, and I don’t see it changing anytime soon.
I am emphasising this because, Bukom – a suburb of Accra – is a rich community that can continuously produce talented fighters for Ghana forever considering how passionate the people are about the sport.
What is the problem with producing credible boxers if the talents are there? Over the years, talents alone haven’t offered boxers successful careers but hard work and determination.
The legendary Mohammed Ali once said “Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” The late former heavyweight great was referring to how a boxer needs activity in and out of the ring to reach greater heights.
Inactivity
With Commey and Dogboe struggling to replicate their previous form as world champions, other fighters that have had the opportunity to make a name for themselves were just mere competitors.
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The likes of Emmanuel ‘Gameboy’ Tagoe, Patrick Allotey, Habib Ahmed, and Raphael Mensah, among others, who challenged for the world title all proved not to be ready for their belt.
It was a problem of how these fighters managed to build impressive pro records to get rated highly by the four main sanctioning bodies in the country.
Does it mean they did not face credible opponents back home or the lack of activity in the ring exposed them on the biggest stage of their careers?
It could be both but the earlier fighters and their managers in Ghana come together to ensure they test themselves against stiffer opposition, the better for them.
Most fighters relocate abroad in search of fights but end up being used as walkover opponents to build the careers of others just for them to earn something decent.
The most pathetic aspect of it is that they struggle to get fights when they relocate, which forces them to do all manner of jobs to survive.
Implications
The biggest problem of boxing in the country currently is the inability of boxers to fight regularly, a development which has rendered so many talents useless.
The GBA in its quest to solve the problem introduced the Professional League, which provided shows every fortnight among the various gyms in the country.
However, my observation after a successful first edition last year showed that the Professional League has a lot of issues to deal with among all stakeholders.
For instance, the managers and promoters of boxers in the country have complained about being sidelined by the GBA by dealing with gyms in organising the league.
The promoters claimed they had to struggle to get dates for shows because the GBA continued to hijack them to favour the organisation of the league. These allegations are not good if they are true because they will have dire circumstances for boxers that do not partake in the league.
I think the GBA must look at a win-win situation to allow more shows in the country if they want boxing to thrive in the country. The earlier the problem is resolved the better for the sport and the numerous fighters in Ghana who can have the chance to fight on different shows to excel.
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