Duke Micah should bounce back from this defeat – Carl Lokko

Former trainer and a technical member of the Ghana Boxing Association (GBA), Carl Lokko has encouraged Duke Micah to take the positives out of the bout he lost against John Riel Casimero and bounce back stronger.

The Ghanaian boxer suffered his first career loss after the Filipino boxer crushed him in the third round to retain his World Boxing Organisation (WBO) Bantamweight title.

Micah who had his first shot at a world title was knocked down with a ferocious left hook after a flurry of punches by the Filipino who dominated the bout from the start.

According to Carl Lokko, Duke Micah lost the bout due to poor coaching from his corner as his approach to the fight was bad.

“I don’t know what kind of instruction was given to him (Duke Micah) at his corner during the bout. There was no game plan or structure so you could see that the approach was wrong”, he told Ohene-Bampoe Brenya on Happy Sports on Happy 98.9 FM.

“His defence in the game was not solid but I hope he can recover from this defeat and bounce back stronger”, he added.

Ghana’s national boxing team head coach Mr Ofori Asare also cited inadequate preparation as the main reason for Duke Micah’s catastrophic loss against John Riel Casimero.

“The time frame of a month and a half for the bout was too short for Micah and he would certainly not have prepared enough. Our boxers in recent times often fall for this ploy from promoters and often come out with unimpressive performances,” he said in an interview with GNA.

He advised boxers not to hurriedly accept World titles if they are not well prepared because it would be difficult for them to succeed.