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20.03.2004 Sports News

Emperor Narh To Rumble Amidu

20.03.2004 LISTEN
By Michael Quaye/Graphic

Two landmark fights, each of them of particular interest to the public, are bound to shake the boxing scene of Ghana next month, courtesy the effort of the Ghana Boxing Authority (GBA).

National lightweight champion, 'Emperor' Raymond Narh, comes up against compatriot Abdulai Amidu for the IBF Inter-Continental title, while 'Little Bomber' Joshua Kpakpo Allotey fights Benin's Anges Adjaho for the WBC International title, both of them vacant, in clashes wanted by the public.

And with both fights scheduled on the same bill and taking place in the Ghanaian fight arena, it marks yet another major step towards realising the dream of finding a credible world champion from the present crop of Ghanaian prize fighters.

That aside, the two fights will satisfy the popular demand by the fight fans to witness what have been described as contemporary legendary fights.Indeed, all four boxers used to parade as super featherweights until Amidu, and then Narh, moved up to the lightweight division.

Before then, proposed fights between any two of them had fallen through for one reason or the other, giving rise to speculation that there was a conscious attempt to avoid one another.Now with the IBF Inter-Continental and WBC International belts at stake, excuses to chicken out have been lost from the lips and actions of each camp.

For, at least, each title fight might well be the appropriate pad to launch any of them onto the real big stage.Kpakpo and Adjaho, for example, were billed to contest for the WBO African title last October but it also fizzled out at the last minute because Adjaho was expected to fight for the Commonwealth crown in Britain.

Significantly, Kpakpo is the only one among them with a blemish on his fight record. Even then, he has won the seven other bouts out of his total eight professionals fights via the short route.Narh is 9-0 (8 KOs) while Amidu is 13-0 (12 KOs).

Between the four lie three different titles. Narh, already a two-time champion, currently holds the national lightweight title, while Amidu and Kpakpo possess the ABU lightweight and super featherweight titles respectively. Adjaho has, however, hardly fought in his home country. In fact, Ghana has served his interest in boxing better than he expected back home.

Landmark Promotions and Management Syndicate, managers of Amidu and Adjaho, have been nominated by the GBA to promote the fights.According to Mr Moses Foh-Amoaning, Vice-Chairman of GBA, his outfit applied separately to the two bodies following the declaration of both titles as vacant by the respective boxing bodies.

He said upon the GBA's submission of necessary documents, including the fight record of the related boxers, both bodies independently requested the GBA to nominate promoters to make the fights in Ghana.In fact, these are practical signs of a conscious programme drawn by the authority to produce champions from Ghana in the shortest time.

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