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FEATURE: Remorseful Allotey must come back stronger
Dear Patrick Allotey,
I believe the lessons learnt in the last seven months will guide your boxing career until you call it quits. It should be a trademark on your professional life in every decision you take going forward.
The six-month ban by the Ghana Boxing Authority (GBA) for angrily punching Michael Siaw Agyemang during a Hearts of Oak-Asante Kotoko clash last January has been lifted and it must end there.
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I know the past months have been difficult for you but just as the saying goes “We are bound to make mistakes and learn from them”. Your case was no exception.
Allotey, your action placed a blemish on your career as a fighter and you must work tirelessly to erase that negative thoughts. That should be your focus as you try to make a ring return in the coming months.
You went to the Accra Stadium to watch a friend and Kotoko left back Christopher Nettey but you failed him by making the headlines for the wrong reasons.
As a sportsman, you should have known better not to overreact at the least provocation because you serve as a role model wherever you find yourself.
Agyemang, the Kotoko supporter, you assaulted may have provoked you but your response erased his provocation. You should have known that you were not there as an individual but a representative of the GBA and the nation as a whole.
Post-incident
As a stakeholder in the boxing fraternity, I remember how remorseful you were when I called to enquire from you what happened at the Accra Stadium. You accepted all the blame and promised never to engage in any altercation again and that made me happy.
I’ve known you for years and I believe you erred by being provoked judging from the viral video which surfaced on the internet. I hope it won’t happen again knowing how your image and brand has been affected.
You see, there is one thing being led by your heart for the wrong purposes and another living with the blemish forever. Our recent conversation showed how you lost so many loved ones due to the infamous incident.
To the extent that you considered quitting the sport tells how badly you felt from the nationwide condemnation you received. It was indeed an intense situation you faced to have considered leaving boxing.
Even though I disagreed with you on that one, I was glad that you took all the blows from critics to come out a better person by staying put in your profession.
What you need to do now is to come back stronger as a person both in the ring and in public. I am glad that you chose to come out from a challenging situation to portray a strong mentality as an athlete.
The ball is in your court to live by the demands of your profession in order to avoid a similar situation which could end up ruining your career.
Ring return
You have an opportunity to commence training immediately to keep shape ahead of a return into the ring when COVID-19 restrictions are eased in the country.
It’s been 11 months since you last challenged Jaime Munguia for the World Boxing Organisation (WBO) super welterweight title and lost. The focus must be to come back stronger.
There are so many options at stake. You can choose to go in for the WBO Africa super welterweight crown again or face an opposition in a tune up fight. Your team must decide.
If I have to choose, I will opt for a contest first before going in for the continental title. This is because, I think Allotey needs a vital win to psychologically prepare him for a bigger fight in the future.
It’s been a long road for you and it will continue to be so because success isn’t chalked up on a silver platter. What you need to do is to remain focused by working harder and everything will fall in place.
I leave you with the legendary Bob Marley’s famous saying “The road to life is rocky” to guide your ways from today.