Major and Latest Boxing news in Ghana
Powers runs away
A purported prophesy by Nigerian evangelist, Prophet Temitope Balogun Joshua, appears to have scared Ayitey Powers to chicken out of his much-anticipated cruiserweight bout with Braimah Kamoko [popularly known as Bukom Banku], with Powers suspiringly asking for the April 18 bout to be rescheduled.
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In a move that stunned the nation yesterday, Powers said he would neither fight on the sanctioned date nor in April. Instead he was ready to slug it out with the hard-hitting Kamoko in any other month.
The boxer told the Graphic Sports at his Mamprobi residence yesterday that following a recent visit to Nigeria to consult his ‘spiritual father’, T.B. Joshua, it emerged that May would be an appropriate date to enter the ring to face the dreaded Bukom Banku.
“I will fight Banku any day, anytime, anywhere but not in April,” Powers said.
This new posture by Powers makes mockery of an earlier contractual agreement between the two fighters signed with Box Office Promotions under the supervision of the Ghana Boxing Authority enjoining both fighters to slug it out on April 18 at the Accra Sports Stadium.
Powers explained that he had not pulled out of the bout, but only wanted it rescheduled. He told the paper his management had verbally informed the GBA of the new twist and was hopeful his request for a postponement would not be turned down.
He appeared unamused at the furore his request had created within boxing circles, and noted that the fight agreement he signed would be rendered irrelevant, since an earlier proposed date of April 25 for the bout was changed to April 18 without any recourse to him.
However, the turn of events not only took Kamoko’s camp by surprise but appeared to have enraged the boxer and his handlers who threatened legal action to seek redress if Powers carried out this threat to withdraw from the fight on the sanctioned date.
Bukom Banku’s manager, Abraham Kotey Neequaye, has vowed to sue the fight promoter, Alex Ntiamoah Boakye of Box Office, the sport’s regulatory body and the management of Powers if punitive measures and costs were not brought against the boxer.
Bukom Banku is expectedly livid at what he claimed were attempts to scupper his opportunity to annex a potential world title bout against Russian world cruiserweight champion, Denis Lebedev.
Meanwhile, fight promoter, Alex Boakye said he was yet to receive a formal letter from the camp of Powers about their request for a rescheduling of the fight.
He however remained hopeful the bout would come off as originally scheduled, unless the GBA states otherwise.
