By Prince Dornu-Leiku
Even before he steps into the ring on December 3 to bid for a reclaim of his recently lost IBF Bantamweight title against Abner Mares, the Directors of the Commonwealth Boxing Council have voted to award the 2011 Dennie Mancini Trophy to Joseph King Kong Agbeko.
The award is named after the late Dennie Mancini (1933-2004), one of the greatest figures in Commonwealth boxing history and is awarded each year to the person deemed to have achieved the most in that year to the aims of Commonwealth Boxing. The trophy takes the form of a bronze bust of Dennie sculpted by artist Tanya Petersen of Creative Spiral, herself coincidentally a relative by marriage of former empire heavyweight champion, the great Jack Petersen of Wales.
Awarded since 2006, past recipients include Tshifhiwa Munyai of South Africa (2006), Bradley Pryce of Wales (2007), Ghanaian legend Azumah Nelson (2008), Briton Amir Khan (2009) and Ricky Burns, also British (2010).
The formal ceremony to reward Agbeko takes place during the British Boxing Board of Control Awards event which this year takes place in London on 20th November, 2011. Ghana boxing Authority President Samir Captan who will attend the event is expected to receive the award on behalf of Agbeko who is in the US fervently preparing towards next month’s epic rematch against the Mexican Mares.
Malik Jabir vows to destroy Samir
By Prince Dornu-Leiku
Fresh from claiming a 4th round TKO win over Tackie Anane, Ghana’s Abdul Malik Jabir says he is determined more than ever to prove his critics wrong by knocking out his next opponent, Samir Kasmi, when he fights the France Super Featherweight champion in his hometown of Noisy Le Grand next month.
“I know that by the grace of God I will win. He will not last more than two rounds. People can say whatever they want but God is my witness. I’m not afraid even if it is his hometown because I’ve prepared and I’m ready to get to the top. Jah is my friend and I know he will guide me to victory,” Malik told ALL SPORTS.
Put together by Boxing Club Noisy (BCN) Promotions headed by Joseph Germaine, the December 2 boxing championship also features two other Ghanaians on the bill. Heavyweight contender John Napari hopes to announce himself to the world when he takes Cameroonian Carlos Takam for the WBO Africa Heavyweight belt whereas good old Bilal Mohammed is also seeking a revival he hopes will culminate in a world title fight soon as he faces Ali Oubaali for the WBO Africa Super Lightweight belt.
The trio are expected to e accompanied on the journey to France by Malik Jabir’s manager Dela MacBrown and trainer Haruna Muntari.
Bilal told Joy FM: “I’m glad to be back in the ring and this time there is no turning back because I’ve been around for a long time. Now I’m going all the way to be a world champion because it’s about time. Joshua Clottey and Joseph Agbeko are all my mates who have become world champions and now I have to also fulfil my dream.”
As in September, I once again ran out of gas in the 10th & 11th championship rounds of October & November with this column, but I recovered to complete them and will unleash a few more flurries to close out the 12th and final round.
In the first week of October, Hassan N’Dam won a UD over Curtis Stevens in an eliminator for the right to challenge Jermaine Taylor who defeated aging Sam Soliman to regain the IBF Middleweight title. How Taylor even earned this title shot is another story altogether, but it is all irrelevant as he is now the champion. However he will not have too much time to savor his victory as he has assault and battery charges pending against him and an upcoming court fight that may turn out to be the toughest fight of his life, just when things started to look up for him in boxing, we wish him luck.
