John Laryea returns to rousing welcome in Accra

John Abaja Laryea, also known as the 'Expensive Boxer,' received a warm welcome back to Ghana on Tuesday, November 5, after his first international fight in the USA.

The 22-year-old, who was accompanied by his trainer, Lawrence Carl Lokko, dominated his opponent Alexander Mejia of Nicaragua in their lightweight bout at the Royale Caribe Orlando, Florida last Friday.

After flooring the opponent in the opening round, Laryea continued to punish Mejia all fight long and earned a resounding 80-69 verdict on the scorecards of all 3 ringside judges.

The victory enhances the world title ambitions of the Ghanaian who holds the WBO Africa featherweight title and is expecting to rise up the world rankings in his pursuit of global stardom.

"First of all I give thanks to God, if not God the victory wouldn't have been possible. I also give thanks to my coach, management and fans for all their support and prayers. I appreciate it very much," Laryea told the Daily Graphic on arrival at the airport.

"I promised Ghanaians before I left that I'm just going to put my hand to work and return. Now that we have this first victory in America behind us, the focus is on working towards winning the world title and I assure everyone that with the full support of my team, by 2025-26 it will happen," he added confidently.