From the days of Roy Ankrah, Eddie Blay, Azumah Nelson and Ike Quartey, Ghana’s place in amateur boxing on the international stage had never been in doubt.
Mention top international competitions like the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, All Africa Games and others; one will always see a member of the Black Bombers ‘bombarding’ their way to the top.
Then came the new generation of young and equally talented boxers cast in the mould of Manyo Plange, Samir Bastir, Kotey Neequaye, Yekini Awinsone, Octopus Djanie and others who tried but faded out prematurely.
That led to the hiring of a Cuban coach, Albane Charvez to resurrect the dwindling fortunes of the sport but few years down the line, there was still nothing to show for and Ghana is still struggling to gain qualification from smaller championships like the Supreme Council for Sports in Africa (SCSA).
And characteristic of Ghanaians, scapegoats have been found for the fall, forgetting that most of the successes chalked by amateur boxers were trained by the same persons being blamed.
To the Sporting Times, the current sorryposition of amateur boxing goes beyond coaching and the earlier authorities identify the anomalies and find lasting solutions for them, the better.
Only last week, the Ghanaian Times, our sister paper carried a story of how a UK based Ghanaian amateur boxer has become the toast of fans after becoming the new champion in the ABA lightweight class.
In his remarks after his coronation, he showered praises on a Ghanaian coach, Carl Lokko, under who he went through the usual training regimen other Ghanaian boxers go through and even fought on the annual Homowo championship.
This suggests that the nation’s inability to churn out great boxers of late has more to do with our infrastructure and lack of competitions to keep the boys active all the time.
For a sport like amateur boxing, long periods of training without competitive fights affect the boxer in diverse ways including the loss of sharpness in their reflexes and their mental toughness.
It is in the light of this that The Sporting Times salute the effort of the new continental sanctioning body, Africa Golden Gloves Warriors (AGGW) for the organisation of weekly amateur championships.
A look at the present formation of the Black Bombers indicate that most of the boxers have come from those who participated actively in the previous trials, vindicating the earlier assertion that constant trials put the boxers in good shape.
It is the view of the Sporting Times that AGGW would be given the needed support to put amateur boxing on the stage it occupied some years back.
