Major and Latest Boxing news in Ghana
George Ashie: My defeat to Gameboy didn’t affect me
Ghanaian lightweight contender, George ‘Red Tiger’ Ashie, has refuted claims that his career took a nosedive after his controversial defeat to Emmanuel ‘Gameboy’ Tagoe in 2012.
Ashie, however, blamed his career decline on ‘several factors’ other than the painful defeat to Tagoe at the Accra Stadium eight years ago.
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Ashie lost a majority decision to Tagoe in a grudge fight which dominated the boxing terrain at the time. The lightweight contest had the World Boxing Association (WBA) strap up for grabs.
Recounting how he felt cheated by the judges on the night, Ashie believed he should have carried the night despite the scorecards going against him.
“I don’t believe that defeat to Tagoe affected my career because I still feel I won that battle. So many things happened and that is what I blame,” a confident Ashie told the Graphic Sports.
“The judges handed him the verdict but that didn’t reflect what happened in the ring,” he noted.
The 36-year-old pugilist has signed a contract with boxing giants, MTK Global, and is optimistic he could achieve his aim of becoming a world champion with hard work.
“I still think I have a future with my new promoters, MTK, and with hard work I can reach higher heights,” he assured.
Meanwhile, Samir Captan, who was the Ghana Boxing Authority (GBA) chairman at the time of the fight, believes the defeat really affected Ashie’s career.
He explained that Ashie lost his tag as the best lightweight in the country after the fight. Mr Captan, however, blamed the defeat to Tagoe on Ashie’s focus on a knockout win.
“I got a Commonwealth fight for Ashie in the United Kingdom before the Tagoe bout. He and his handlers refused it and opted to fight Tagoe and that was it for him.
“That fight really affected his career because he is yet to make it to where we expected him to be,” the former GBA boss emphasised.