Ebenezer Ankrah of the Black Panthers Gym showed his class as a future champion with an astonishing performance at the National Individual Amateur Boxing Championship held on Friday and Saturday at the Ga Mashie Hall of the Trust Sports Emporium.
The Labone SHS student said he was ahead of his colleagues due to a few exposures and experiences gained fighting on the international front.
The former Black Rocket also gave credit to his trainer, Ebenezer Adjei, aka Killer, for his encouragement and technical skills, ls which have improved tremendously.
Ebenezer Ankrah was one of the best boxers, and his bout against Francis Quartey was exciting as it made boxing fans cheer and had many fans. At the time of going to press, three members of the Black Panthers club have qualified for the final. including Ibrahim Doku, who also displayed wonderfully.
Sensational Samuel Plange lost to a controversial verdict in his semi-final match against Owoo, which his trainers said they would protest. The second day of the Championship was a thriller as boxers fought well to the admiration of fans who had come from different places to watch the event.
Sea View Boxing Club, headed by Coach Zico, also had some of its boxers making it to the final, which has been scheduled for the end of February.
Wisdom Boxing Club presented the most boxers, 17, and head trainer Dr. Ofori Asare said he wants to allow everyone to shine and discover their way to stardom. Some of his boxers also forced their way to the finals, like Abdul Wahid Omar, who represented Ghana at the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil and holds two Commonwealth Games medals.
Amadu Mohammed of Sea View, who won SWAG Boxer of the Year in 2024, also had an easy ride to the finals.
However, it was a different story for boxers coming from other parts of the nation, like the Northerners, who lost because ofa lack of technique and exposure.
Former President of the Ghana Boxing Federation (GBF), Mr. George Lamptey, who is an International Technical Official, in an interview, said there should be competitions in other regions to give the boxers experience so that they can shine on the big stage.
Current President of the GBF, Dauda Fuseni, congratulated all the boxers who participated and disclosed that the best losers would be selected as part of the new team building process, and they would be prepared for international assignments.
Ghana is preparing for the upcoming 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, the 2026 Youth Olympics in Dakar, and the 2028 LA Olympic Games.
Some foreign guests who watched the Championship commended the GBF and said Ghana has very good boxers.
They hailed the trainers who have been able to groom the boxers to become national stars.
The grand finals of the 2026 Ghana Boxing Federation Individual Championship have been fixed for February, ending at the Bukom Boxing Arena.
By Sammy Heywood Okine
