Agbeko Presents Title Belt To Prez Mills

President John Evans Atta Mills, yesterday welcomed International Boxing Federation (IBF) bantamweight champion Joseph Agbeko to the Castle, Osu, from his latest conquest in the United States, and pledged the government's support for the growth and development of boxing in the country.

'We will do what we can to make boxing take its pride of place in the country,' President Mills said at the short reception organised in honour of the two-time world boxing champion.

President Mills, who expressed great admiration for the 30-year-old Agbeko's general comportment and sense of purpose, said the boxer's attitude was inspiring enough to encourage the youth in their various endeavours.

'I was particularly impressed by your short speech, which gave me the impression that this is somebody who knows what he is about,' he said of the boxer, adding that 'Agbeko's victory shows that with determination and the love of a nation' everything was achievable.

He promised an unspecified package from the government to the boxer for the honour he had done the whole nation, and upon receiving the famous glove Agbeko used when he defeated Yonnhy Perez of Colombia to reclaim the IBF title, President Mills likened the boxer's feat to an apparent 'political boxing' the President was engaged in.

'I am involved in my own boxing. I am in the second round, and by the time I get to the fourth round, my opponent will be knocked out,' he said in apparent reference to his occupation of political office.

Agbeko himself earlier told the gathering at the Castle Gardens, which included royals from his roots at Aflao, presidential staffers, ministers of state, members of the Ghana Boxing Authority (GBA), some former and current international boxing champions from Ghana, among others, that he had been moved by a special message from the President delivered to him by presidential aides who flew to Washington DC in the United States to watch the fight at the Emerald Queen Casino, Tacoma, Washington, on December 11, 2010.

'I was inspired by that message,' he said.

He, however, appealed for greater support for the sport and its practitioners, philosophically suggesting that 'but for boxing, nobody knows where I would be by now.

'I could be working in an office by now, perhaps, or I could be in jail. Nobody knows,' he said.

'Boxing has made many of us what we are today so we need all the support we can get. Sports in general is helping reduce poverty in Ghana so it deserves all the investment,' he added.

But when he remarked in reference to his second visit to the Castle following his second world title conquest that 'many are called but few are chosen,' he drew applause from the gathering, including his fellow boxers.

GBA Chairman Samir Captan said boxing's reliability as a constant source of champions and pride for Ghana deserved to be reciprocated with concrete structures such as gymnasiums and a befitting sports hall to help grow the sport.

He paid tribute to boxers, managers, ring officials and various stakeholders who had defied the odds to help produce 11 champions in the less than two years he had been appointed to the GBA chair.

The Minister of Youth and Sports, Ms Akua Sena Dansua, said her outfit had already made the necessary contacts to get the right support for boxing and other disciplines from corporate establishments to develop Ghana sports.