A RARE twist in fortunes last Tuesday has enriched the September 7 World boxing show in Accra where King Kong, Joseph Agbeko, will attempt to become the sixth Ghanaian to win a world boxing title.
The dream follows what Agbeko’s original opponent, Louis Mambo of Zambia, thought was going to be his final warm-up fight before descending on Agbeko in Accra. Instead, he got knocked out in the ninth of a 10-round fight by Mike Kizza of Uganda.
Immediately after the shocking upset, the sanctioning body, the World Boxing Federation, named the Ugandan as the replacement and the mandatory opponent for Joseph Agbeko's world title aspiration.
Kizza, who is also the East and Central Africa bantam and super bantamweight champion, improved his record to an impressive 16-1 with seven knockouts.
Based in Bologna, Italy, Mike Kizza belongs to the same management syndicate with two East Africans - Albert Musankabala and John Sichula, both very familiar names within Ghanaian boxing circles.
Sichula fought and lost in a commonwealth light weight championship fight against Sam Akromah in Accra while Musankabala lost in an African flyweight championship fight to Nana Yaw Konadu in 1987 and 88 respectively.
What was expected last Tuesday to be a warm-up for Mambo turned disastrous when Kizza knocked him out in the ninth round of a contest in Bologna, completely changing the face of the September world title fight in Accra.
The ripples descended the supporting bout as well, Abdul Malik Jabir now fighting Camerounian Elol Gyrile in an international super bantamweight challenge contest. The Camerounian enters the ring with an intimidating 12-0 record with eight knockouts.
In the other high-profile undercard, Joshua Clottey will take on Mebara Desire also of Cameroun in an eight-round international welterweight contest. Desire is an 8-0 with six knockouts.
