WBO chance for Ghanaian boxers

The World Boxing Organisation (WBO) will launch the body in Africa this year.It is meant to provide African boxers an opportunity to vie for WBO's titles. Mrs Irene Sunmbo Kati, the Africa President of the organisation disclosed this in an interview in Accra yesterday. Mrs Kati, who was in the country for a visit, said boxing stands the chance of earning a country substantial financial benefits besides boosting the image of the nation in the sporting realm, she said."This can only be assured if the necessary attention is given to boxing,” she said. She expressed concern about the manner boxing is treated in Africa, saying “obviously sports is all about football as far Africa is concerned,” a practice which has the potential of killing the competitive spirit of the "lesser sports".Mrs Kati, therefore, stressed the need for the government to give equal attention to other disciplines to improve on the economy.

She intimated that the WBO would embark on an outreach programme through-out the continent (Africa) to give the boxers the opportunity to compete to enable officials to select the competent ones to represent Africa in a world championship scheduled to take place later this year. Already, Joseph Agbeko, James Amarh (Bukom Fire) and Jushua Clottey have been named as qualified boxers eligible to battle for WBO titles, with Joshua having the honour of being the first to test his strength this year in a WBO fight.

Ghana has taken steps to make boxing one of the favourite disciplines in the country, having realised the potential the sport has in terms of generation of funds.

Meanwhile, a seminar was held to upgrade the knowledge of the boxing officials on rules and signs.