Lartekwei Lartey promoted as Black Bombers new coach

Lartekwei Lartey who has dedicated his life into coaching young and upcoming boxers has been appointed as new coach of the national amateur boxing team, the Black Bombers.

According to Executive member Theo Edwin Addo, he takes over from Ofori Asare and will be assisted by Ofori Quaye and another rising coach who have been dedicated to the team Ghana.

Coach Lartey has faced numerous challenges, but he never given up as a trainer of young boxers. For many years Ghana has boasted of its victory in the boxing arena. He wants to improve upon Ghana’s three Olympics medals.

Born in 1965, Coach Lartey started fighting when he was a little boy. “My brother saw that I loved fighting, he took me to the place they train. Every day when I wake up in the morning, I think about boxing,” he said.

His first public outing as an amateur boxer was with a professional boxer then, Eric Boon. But his star would further shine when his training coach saw something in him that Kwei himself did not see.

He noted that he was a better coach than a boxer.

“The coach saw that I could train people. I didn’t know the vision he saw. By then, I was a disco dancer and so my mind was not on boxing alone, I was not focused on one thing,” he recalled.

Laterkwei decided to pursue coaching. His focus was somewhat different from what many coaches pursued. He started his own training club, Fit Square Boxing Club and went on to train very young kids aspiring to be professional boxers. Some of his trainees have risen to the national level ranks.

“Daniel has a lot of boxers in the national team, he works very hard,” Ofori Asare former Head Coach National Boxing Team, the Black Bombers added.

But he has not gotten much financial success from his great work. Most of the boxers he has helped raise from the bottom up left and never came back to bring the glory home. Most of them are taken by other clubs and they lose their connection with Coach Kwei.

“The old man who taught me boxing said that boxers are ungrateful, you train them, later they will go away from you,” he recalled.

Despite the past disappointments coach Lartey still does what he loves best, training. His hopes are in one of his rising star, Manyo Plange a twenty four year old chap. Through one of his talent scouting, coach Lartey discovered Manyo.

He was very much amazed when the young Manyo beat a professional boxer. Since then, the two became friends and they have one goal, making it to the WBC world championships.

“Coach Lartey has trained a lot of champions. I think he is the best coach, training the young ones and the upcoming boxers,” tells Manyo Plange – a rising professional boxer.

“Sometimes you have to see the vision. You have to see somebody…that this man, if I train him he can be good in the future,” tells the coach.

But his efforts have not gone unnoticed; he won several awards for being a good assistant boxing coach as well as the best coach.

His desire, “I want to train somebody to win an Olympic Medal and also fight for the WBC world title. That is my wish. That is something I’ll do before I pass away”.

For now coach Lartekwei Lartey is taking one bold step at a time, looking forward to a promising future with Ghana’s team at the 2015 All African Games in Congo and he is looking forward to bring home gold medals.