Major and Latest Boxing news in Ghana
Welterweight will best suit Obodai Sai - Tofiq
A former manager and trainer of defeated Obodai Sai, Alhaji Muritela Tofiq, has advised the boxer to drop in weight to the welterweight division to secure his future in the sport.
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According to the Ghana Boxing Authority(GBA) executive member, Obodai would be best suited for either the welterweight or super-welterweight division.
“I knew Obodai Sai since infancy, I’ve trained him before and what I saw happen to him last Friday was an abuse of weight. He is best for the welterweight or super-welterweight division”, he stated.
The Bukom-based brawler shattered his ambitions for a possible world title shot when he lost via a technical knockout decision against Namibian hard-hitter, Walter Kautondokwa, in an IBF/WBO Africa Middleweight Championship bout at the Bukom Boxing Arena last Friday.
Obodai struggled to contain the 32-year-old Kautondokwa, undefeated in 15 bouts, as he used his reach and height to jab his way, while catching the Ghanaian with a left hook before sending him reeling on the canvas in the fifth round.
Alhaji Tofiq, who owns Ambition Boxing Promotion, told this paper in an exclusive interview last Wednesday in Accra that the boxer’s corner failed him, stressing that something went wrong at the boxer’s corner.
He stated that the loss was not a misfortune for only Sai but the whole nation, adding that every stakeholder in Ghana boxing must be disheartened about the development.
Ghana is yet to get a credible world title in the discipline in over a decade and world title hopefuls such as Obodai Sai, Raphael Mensah, Emmanuel Tagoe and Isaac Dogboe are yet to make their mark at the world stage.
With the defeat of Sai, it remains to be seen whether the nation can make any headway in the sport vis-a-vis the failure of the Ghana amateur boxing team, Black Bombers, to participate in three major international competitions.