Bukom Banku vrs Ayitey Powers On August 30

*Winner takes all: Bukom Banku vrs Powers August 30 *
It is official. The much trumpeted and sought-after local boxing clash between Braimah Kamoko famously called Bukom Banku and hot rival, Ayitey Powers will finally come alive at the Accra Sports Stadium on August 30 in what has been christened ‘Put Up or Shut Up.’

Henry Manly-Spain whose Golden Concepts International are staging this fight along with their subsidiary GoldenMike Promotions, says his camp gave in to the persistent demands to face Kamoko by Powers after both boxers agreed on a winner-takes-all format.


World title chasing Bukom Banku, Boxing In Ghana sources indicate could get a crack at the WBO Cruiserweight belt before the end of this year but first he must silence compatriot Ayitey Powers who has beaten the drum that he will stop the undefeated Kamoko so much Banku’s promoters had to give in even though the two boxers have career records far apart.


Powers, a former Ghana, West Africa and Africa champion, has incredibly lost more fights in his 39-fight career (18-20-1, 14 KOs) that has seen him fight several times in the UK as well as Australia, Algeria and even Benin.


But his experience of facing top notch fighters overseas, even if most of them ended in defeat is the very tune Ayitey Powers has repeatedly hummed as his advantage over Bukom Banku who has yet to fight outside Ghana in 26 professional fights. Powers' has recently been in the news for his derogatory comments about Bukom Banku calling him a coward for refusing to accept his challenge for a fight.


“Bukom Banku is a coward, he can’t stand me in the ring. He knows I will beat him that’s why he’s running away from me. I will stop him in round 6 because I know if we go 12 rounds they will rob for him. The people I’ve fought with in my career, he can’t face any of them. He is a coward,” Powers persistently challenged.

Never to lie down is the ever bashing Kamoko, a part time musician and actor who even went as far as to compose and release a hiplife song to call the bluff of Ayitey Powers. “At best, he is a wasted talent long gone past his prime. To entertain him will be a waste of time because he has no pedigree for which he should be of interest to a boxer who might get a full world title chance soon,” Mike Tetteh, CEO of GoldenMike Promotions responded back then.


But the two boxers have now apparently put an end to the media war and are set to slug it out in the ring at the end of the month setting the stage for a potential sell-out at the Accra Sports Stadium on the night of Friday August 30, 2013 under the Put Up or Shut Up bill which will also feature other highly rated boxers like IBF Youth Welterweight champion, Issah Samir and his brother, Bastie as well as Joshua Okine, Albert Mensah and Ghana-based Nigerian female slugger, Helen Joseph.


“I think the noise that Ayitey Powers has made makes this fight much sought-after. The fact of the matter is that he knows very well that he is no match for Banku but he feels that Bukom Banku has got a lot of money streaming around him so he wants to come and fight so that some will rain on him too,” Manly-Spain said.


He explained further: “The fact is that I’d managed him before and know that he can’t stand up to Banku, so we made it mandatory that for him to put up his best and give the fans a good fight worth their money, we had to make the fight a winner-takes-all affair.


“Both boxers agreed that the purse should not be shared but winner-takes-all. That will bring out the best in him (Powers). So he will put up or forever shut up.”