Boxing: Gameboy is Ghana's only world champion - GBA

The Ghana Boxing Authority (GBA) has announced that the country's only world title holder is International Boxing Organization (IBO) Lightweight champion Emmanuel Tagoe.

The second vice president of the GBA, Abraham Kotey Neequaye in a statement on Tuesday said the body currently recognizes Emmanuel Tagoe as Ghana's only world title holder after he defeated South African Mzonke Fana to clinch the IBO world title on February 12, 2016, in Accra.

Mr Neequaye was seeking to clarify the seeming confusion over the number of world champions the country currently has following Isaac Dogbe's spectacular fifth-round stoppage of Mexican Cesar Juarez which earned him the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Interim Super Bantamweight title on January 7 at the Bukom Boxing Arena in Accra.

"Dogbe is going to fight the other guy (Jesse Magdaleno) right? But, Gameboy is defending his title you understand?," Mr Neequaye said in reference to Dogbe's impending showdown with WBO Super Bantamweight champion Jesse Magdaleno.

"But this whole problem that we are having is, the title that Gameboy has is a lower sanctioning body but it's a world title, we have the WBC being the first then other titles follow...".

He contended that Dogbe's status as an interim champion means he is now the mandatory challenger to the world title.

"Gameboy is the only champion we have. Now Dogbe is going to fight the guy for the title, so until they fight or the guy says I am not fighting again then Dogbe has the title, we can't say Dogbe is a world champion now but Emmanuel Tagoe is a world champion who has won the title already and is going to defend it," Mr Neequaye said in an interview on Tuesday.

Tagoe, 31, will make the first defence of the IBO World Lightweight Title when he faces Argentinian veteran Fernando Davido Saucedo on January 27 at the Bukom Boxing Arena in Accra.