Tagoe kayoes Momba to win WBA title

Emmanuel “Game Boy” Tagoe last Friday produced a masterful display to win the WBA International Lightweight title with a sixth round technical knockout (TKO) of Tanzanian Sadiki Momba in front of a capacity crowd at the tennis court of the Accra Sports Stadium.

Tagoe, 27, arrived at ringside dressed as a warrior in a palanquin and dominated all the six rounds, easily evading and jabbing the tough-talking Momba, who only excited the vociferous crowd prior to the bout with his dance moves upon entering the ring.

Momba, 25, had promised to knock out Tagoe in the fourth round of their “Who Rules the Ring” clash but he never came close to hurting his skilled opponent who started the clash aggressively, connecting easily with shots to the head and body of the Tanzanian who lost his gumshield midway through round one.

Rounds two to five followed the same trend, with Tagoe who trains at the Seconds Out Gym dominating while Momba only connected with some occasional heavy punches. However, the bout came to an abrupt end in the sixth round when the Tanzanian called it quits due to a shoulder injury after Game Boy had jabbed Momba’s left arm with an innocuous punch.

Afterwards, Tagoe, who improved his record to 23 wins and one loss, promised to give George “Red Tiger” Ashie a rematch following their contentious November 10, 2012 fight which he (Game Boy) won.

"I am ready to give George Ashie a rematch because I am done with this fight and can now focus on him.  If he is ready the bout can come off on May 9; I will beat him again just to please my fans," Tagoe said.

Ashie, who was at ringside, quickly accepted the offer and even preferred that the bout be brought forward to March 6, adding that his motivation was to redeem his image and not money.

Ashie said: “May 9 is too far; we both have titles so this can be a unification bout. I need his title, not his money; March 6 will be perfect.”

The undercards saw Nigerian-born Felix Williams defeating Oblitey Commey by a TKO in their featherweight contest; Raymond Commey, alias Chorkor Banku, won the international Super Bantamweight contest after ringside doctor, Ken Ayittey, decided that the dominant Kenyan, Nick Otieno, could not continue due to a cut he sustained in round seven.

Abraham Osei Bonsu of the Bukom Boxing Gym defeated Michael Pappoe of the Black Panix Gym with a unanimous verdict to clinch the National Super Featherweight title, while Michael Ansah, alias One Bullet, recovered from a cut above his eye to defeat Ishmael Aryeetey.