Abdulai Amidu stopped Ben 'Congo Soldier' Ankrah to win the African Boxing Union lightweight title when they fought at the Globe Cinema Hall in Accra on Saturday morning.
Ankrah failed to answer the bell for the eighth round as he complained of severe pains in his stomach and referee Folorunsho Jacobs from Nigeria awarded the fight to Amidu via a TKO.
The action packed fight lived up to its billing as the two boxers gave very good account of themselves in both defence and attack.
Ankrah was the aggressor in the first two rounds but he failed to land most of his hard punches as he missed persistently while the back-pedalling Amidu picked points at will with his piston like left jabs.
Amidu stunned the 'Congo Soldier' in the second round with two powerful right hooks to the head and the game Ankrah replied with a thunderous overhead right that landed with precision on the head of the champion.
Amidu took over the chase from the third round but was persistently rocked by Ankrah who displayed superb counter punching ability by connecting about three punches anytime Amidu hit him. It was clearly 'Congo Soldier's round.
The fourth round was more ferocious than the third as the two boxers traded hard punches with Amidu exerting himself early in the round. The latter stages of the round went to Ankrah who jabbed effectively on the retreat and fired some good combinations to balance the round.
From the fourth round, 'Congo Soldier' appeared tired as he tried continuously to clinch even when he was not in any great danger. He, however, displayed a big heart as he remained on his feet, defending resolutely when the bell sounded.
In the sixth round it was evident that Ankrah just wanted to survive as he appeared weak and unwilling to duel his opponent with the same zeal and determination he exhibited in the earlier rounds.
Ankrah appeared revived in the seventh as he countered very effectively on the retreat while Amidu tried to corner and tame him with very powerful punches to the body.
The bell was a welcome relief to the 'Congo Soldier' who was visibly tired and it turned out to be the final bell when Ankrah gave up, citing severe abdominal pains.
In another title fight Osmanu Adama the national welterweight champion knocked out his Togolese counterpart, Dosseh Poudjagba in the fourth round to become the national and West African middleweight champion.
Adama completed the fight when he delivered a powerful right to the face of Poudjagba, and the Togolese went to the canvas, but managed to beat the count.
Poudjagba tried hard to even scores in the round as he opened up fiercely but he went down again on his knees as a result of another telling blow from the Ghanaian and the referee countered him out.
Despite the loss, Poudjaba made a serious case for himself by proving that he was no mincemeat as he threatened Adama continuously and made the Ghanaian unsettled in the first and second rounds.
Though Adama sent the foreigner down on his knee for the first time in round two with a powerful right he came back strongly to give the Ghanaian a stiffer challenge in the third round before giving up in the fourth.
In other bouts of the night, Kpakpo Allotey, the African Boxing Union (ABU) super featherweight champion knocked out his Beninnoise opponent, Basil Djossou in one minute 49 seconds of round two in a scheduled eight round contest.
Ange Adjaho the sensational Beninnoise boxer who has become the toast of Ghanaian boxing fans defeated his Nigerian opponent, Azeez Onikoyi on a unanimous decision after eight rounds of serious exchanges.
Mustapha Ampiah also had a unanimous decision over Emmanuel Allotey in a six round featherweight contest, while Aryitey Powers recorded the fastest knock out of the night when he connected a deadly blow on the face of Madaga Solomon in the 47 seconds of the first round to end their international super welterweight fight.
It was an easy payday for Powers, while the Central African Republican boxer who is based in Burkina Faso remained dazed after being countered out and it took more than five minutes for the ringside doctors to revive him.
