Boxer Bastie Samir has thrown a challenge to his arch-rival Bukom Banku, daring him to a fight.
The frenzy around local boxing reached a crescendo in 2017 when the two boxers sold out a very entertaining and competitive bout which ended in a defeat for Bukom Banku.
Bastie pummeled the loud-mouth boxer and handed him a seventh-round knockout.
Since that bout, there have been attempts by various promoters to stage a rematch with Banku said to have pocketed a staggering GH¢17,000 from the CEO of Box Office Promotions, Alex Ntiamoah.
Bastie is set make his first fight since that bout and has declared his readiness to fight Banku who has already declared his unwillingness to honour a rematch citing juju as the reason.
Banku in an interview with Okay FM accused Samir of using black magic. “I still think about that from 2 years ago and I still do not understand how I lost to Bastie because I believed that he was no match for me. However, I was scared at the time of the bout because I almost suffered a stroke that night. When I was getting into the ring, I saw that Bastie was larger in size. I knew him to be shorter than I was but he looked taller”.
Speaking to reporters ahead of the December 26 bout, Bastie rubbished the claims by Banku and challenged him to a fight.
“I wish Bukom Banku good luck but if anytime he wants to fight, I’m ready for him. I wish him well and everything but wherever I meet him, I will beat him. Boxing is not about juju. If there was juju in boxing, there will be a lot of fighters in India. Why are they not great like Mayweather, Mike Tyson etc. It’s all about hard work, if he says I used juju to beat him then he also used juju to beat Ayittey Powers”, he said.
