Prince Doku steals show at boxing extravaganza

Boxing fans in the Kumasi Metropolis at the weekend went into a frenzy with excitement as some professional and amateur boxers in the Ashanti and Greater Accra Regions pitched their strength against each other in a boxing extravaganza held at the Prempeh Assembly Hall.
Dubbed “Barka- da – Sallah Night”, the event was put together by Agyaba Boxing Syndicate in collaboration with the Ghana Boxing Authority and aimed at whipping up the interest of the sport among residents of the Metropolis and also to round off the Muslim Ramadan feast.
Agyaba Kwame Afriyie, Chief Executive of the Syndicate told the GNA Sports after the competition that “The development of boxing at the regional level would be meaningless unless stakeholders invest massively in the sport to help nurture young talents and potential future boxing champions for the nation”.
In the main bout, Prince Doku of Believers Boxing Gym in Accra pummelled Baba Clay of B.B. Boxing Club of Kumasi to submission in their eight-round contest in the Super lightweight to record a 3-0 unanimous decision win.
The judges scored the fight 80-72, 80-72 and 80-72 in favor of the Accra-based pugilist who was carried shoulder high amidst brass band music by his supporters soon after the verdict had been announced.
Using his longer reach to advantage, Doku dominated in the initial stages of their bout as he warded off the advancing Clay whose target of recording an early technical knock-out failed to materialize as anticipated by his numerous home supporters.
In the fourth and fifth rounds, the two boxers concentrated the action in the middle of the ring where they traded hefty punches but it was Doku who came out stronger as he combined some effective left and right upper cuts that led to the Kumasi-based pugilist to bleed profusely from his mouth and nose.
Clay who was, however, determined to appease his supporters managed to endure the pain and fought gallantly, as he came out with some impressive body swerves and swift foot works to confuse the hard- hitting Doku in the sixth and seven rounds.
In the eight round the Prince Doku took absolute control of the game and chased Clay all over the ring hitting him with a combination of left and right punches that occasionally dazed the latter but he managed to hold his own till the end of the bout.
In the other supporting bouts, veteran Baba Anafo of B.B. Boxing Club beat Zakari Adamu of Wisdom Gym from Accra to record a sixth- round Technical Knock-Out (TKO) win in the Light weight division, whilst Wombil Timbil of B. B. Boxing
Club also defeated his opponent Espania Asomia of Indigo Boxing Gym in Accra in their Middle weight bout.
In the Light welterweight fray, Yaw Sakia of B.B. Boxing Club was defeated by Ebenezer Lamptey of Believers Boxing Gym in the first round, whilst Stephen Abbey of Wisdom Boxing Club from Accra also beat Ibrahim Gariba of Day Nursery Club from Kumasi in the first round of their Light heavyweight contest.
In the amateur category, James Allou of B.B. Boxing Club defeated John Kudjoe of Day Nursery Club in the second round of their Light welterweight contest while Sakodan Bindi of B.B. Boxing Club also beat Tambil Kalayan his gym mate in the third round of their Feather weight bout.