By Prince Dornu-Leiku
Emmanuel Tagoe lived up to his word by claiming a majority decision victory over compatriot George Ashie as their much trumpeted ‘Clash of Kings’ headliner finally came to a head Saturday night in Accra.
Tagoe, famously called Game Boy had gone into the fight telling anyone who cared to listen that he was going to defeat his big local rival through a points decision and how true his words came alive as the verdict was read after twelve pulsating rounds in which neither boxer could break the foe.
In the end, 114-114, 115-113, 116-112 the three judges had their scorecards tallying in favour of Tagoe who claimed the vacant WBA International Lightweight belt as a result. The crafty GameBoy who entered the ring carried aloft in a palanquin amid carrying a sword like a king, was crowned king and improved his record to 19-1, 8 KOs whilst condemning the amiable Ashie to the fourth defeat of his 28 fight career.
“First of all, I thank God for giving me this victory. I also thank BabyJet Promotions because I’ve wanted this fight for more than six years to prove that I’m the best in the country but never got it. So we thank God that thanks to BabyJet, we have seen the best,” a very satisfied Tagoe told Ghanaian journalists at the unprecedented press conference immediately after the fight at the Accra Stadium Media Centre early hours of Sunday morning.
Game Boy added: “My fans should be patient and I will make them more proud. Boxing is a gift from God, I did not learn it. God blessed me with it so I’m going to win more titles and hopefully with the support of BabyJet Promotions, I will prove to everyone that I’m the king in the ring.”
It was BabyJet Promotions’ first ever event after the syndicate owned by national soccer star Asamoah Gyan entered the Ghanaian boxing scene barely five months ago. From the unprecedented huge crowd to the side attractions featuring some silky performances from some of Ghana’s most famous musicians including the sexy Kaaki and the delivery of the fighters in the ring, BabyJet Promotions did it all and have now certainly set a benchmark for boxing promotions in this country.
The most famous of Ghana’s former world champions, D.K. Poison, Azumah Nelson, Ike Quartey, Joshua Clottey and Joseph Agbeko were all at ringside to support the fight night supervised by Ghana Boxing Authority President, Samir Captan and his able lieutenants.
“I love boxing so much and I remember Ghana used to have a lot of boxing champions but not much these days. So I decided to help the upcoming boxers and we thank God almighty that this first promotion has been so successful.
“Now we have to sit down and weigh our options and see what we can do next,” said BabyJet Promotions President Asamoah Gyan whose deceased mother’s 7-day celebrations comes off this Tuesday in Accra.
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.
