'There are more quality boxers in other regions' - GBA

Mr Patrick Johnson, General Secretary of the Ghana Boxing Authority (GBA), has said, there are more potential world beaters in other parts of the country, apart from Greater Accra.

He said the nation abounds in a lot of boxing talents in other regions and there was the need for the National Sports Authority (NSA) and the GBA to expand the search for such world beaters in other parts of the country.

Mr. Johnson said, just like Ghana’s youngest world champion Isaac ‘Royal Storm’ Dogboe, came from the Volta Region of the country, there were other equally quality boxers in other regions other than the capital.

Speaking in an interview with the GNA Sports, he said the NSA needs to build at least two well equipped boxing gyms accompanied with good trainers, in each of the regions in the country, in order to unearth more juvenile and amateur boxers, out of which a world champion can emerge.

He added that, coaches must also be given the opportunity to update their knowledge in the sports, with regular international courses, at least every three to six months.

“Such coaches must be on government’s payroll. So that they would be training boxers from the grassroots and am convinced the country would benefit from them," he added.

He said the initiative if materialized would significantly reduce the number of unemployed youth on the streets and bring more laurels to the nation.

Mr Johnson noted that, most coaches in gyms in the Accra, were paid from their contracts with their professional boxers and they used part of that profit to train juvenile and amateur boxers.

He applauded government’s regional boxing coaches’ deployment policy, but underlined the need for more to be done, and that, government’s support at the juvenile and amateur level was not enough and needed to be improved.