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How Banku silenced Powers in 'Judgement Night' bout (+ Video highlights)
Michael Ayittey Okine (Ayitey Powers) made all the right noises, created a lot of buzz and controversy in good measure which added to the excitement and raised expectations among fans ahead of last Thursday’s non-title clash with old foe Braimah ‘Bukom Banku’ Kamoko.
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His distinctive blonde hairdo made him stand out, he dared to engage the hard-hitting Kamoko in a pound-for-pound showdown and stop the knockout specialist in the sixth round. But rather surprisingly, it was Powers who was handed a beating of his life which left him bruised in a one-sided catch-weight contest.
See highlights:
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The verdict was clear long before the final bell sounded after 12 gruelling rounds, that even the most fanatical fan of Powers knew the boxer had lost, with judges Emmanuel Brenya (120-108), Confidence Hiagbe (117-109) and Roger Barnor (119-100) handing Kamoko a unanimous points victory.
Ironically, as fate would have it, all boxers who fought from the blue corner during the supporting bouts lost. Powers’ professed spirituality and ‘blessing’ from his spiritual father, Prophet T.B. Joshua, did not save him from suffering the ‘blue corner syndrome’.
The Accra Sports Stadium witnessed one of its biggest crowds in recent times at a local boxing event. Perhaps the crowd would have been even bigger if the fight had been staged on a weekend, including controversy stirred by eleventh-hour threat by the Ga Traditional Council calling for rescheduling of the fight and security concerns expressed by the Regional Security Council (REGSEC).
Nonetheless, the turnout was very impressive with many high-profile guests, including former President Jerry Rawlings and his wife Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, former world title holders such as David Kotei ‘Poison, Azumah Nelson, Ike Quartey, Alfred Kotey and Joshua Clottey, other A-list celebrities, including former Black Stars captain Stephen Appiah and Samuel Osei Kuffour.
The ambience was charged as the two loud-mouthed combatants had raised expectation of an uncompromising clash. And it turned out to be an action-packed 12-rounder which saw Powers flatter in the early rounds only to deceive as the fight progressed beyond the fourth round.
Powers, who had lost his last six fights and last won a fight 23 months ago, started the fight very aggressively with some combination punches as his opponent typically looked for an opening to land his trademark uppercuts. But that aggression and false sense of hope of an upset lasted just two rounds as the Mamprobi lad began to look tired on the back foot and his legs beginning to wobble under pressure.
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By round four, Kamoko began to dictate the pace with head shots that dazed Powers who threw fewer punches and was on most occasions on the defensive. The bigger and heavier Kamoko (weighed in eight kilos heavier) looked more patient as he sized up his opponent, looking for an opening to wear down Powers with uppercuts.
On a number of occasions referee Shadrack Acquaye had to warn a tired-looking Powers to stop holding the ring to avoid a knockdown. And yet the man who had predicted a pound-for-pound showdown with no clinching turned out to be highly guilty of holding his opponent anytime he was in trouble.
Even where he gathered his energy to fight back it was not sustained and hardly troubled the heavier Bukom brawler who did most damage in the blue corner in the clear view of Powers’ handlers who looked on helpless unable to turn the fight around.
By the 10th round, Kamoko’s uppercuts had caused so much damage that Powers began to bleed in the mouth with his blonde goatee stained with blood.
The crowd roared Banku! Banku!! Banku!! as their boxer ran the show towards the end of the one-sided bout. Even before the final bell sounded it was obvious Powers had bitten more than he could chew and suffered his 24th loss --- and perhaps the most humiliating --- of his 43-fight career.