MacBones in town to pursue Olympic dream
Ghanaian boxing sensation, Freezy MacBones arrived in Accra on Sunday, August 27, to join the national amateur boxing team as they intensify their preparation for the upcoming Olympic Games qualifying competition in Dakar, Senegal.
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The United Kingdom (UK)-based boxer was greeted with a rousing welcome at the Kotoka International Airport as he marked the commencement of a journey towards fulfilling an Olympic dream, having expressed his readiness to represent Ghana at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Preparation
Born in Ghana as Seth Gyimah, 33-year-old MacBones had already begun training at his London gym in readiness for the upcoming Olympic qualifying competition, and now joins his other Black Bombers teammates for the final part of preparation and an arranged warm-up fight at the Bukom Boxing Arena before the team embark on their journey to the Senegalese capital to fight for tickets to the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The United States (US)-based female boxer, Ornella Sathoud, is expected in Ghana later today to join the Black Bombers at their residential training base at the Trust Sports Emporium in Accra.
Despite missing a ticket to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Sathoud — an engineer who also holds a PhD in analytical chemistry — remains hopeful about securing her place in the Paris 2024 Olympics. She previously represented Ghana in some international competitions, notably the 2019 African Games in Rabat and the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.
Training camp
Black Bombers Head Coach, Ofori Asare, currently oversees a camp boasting 17 skilled boxers, but it is the foreign-based pugilists who are capturing the limelight, not only for their athletic prowess but also for their unique journeys.
For McBones, in particular, he has been making headlines for his impressive performances in the ring. However, it is an inspiring journey from a humble background in Ghana as a labourer at a construction site to pursuing his passion for boxing in the UK, aside from his other profession as a chef in London, which has seen him rise to stardom quickly.
This time, under the guidance of Coach Asare, he is guaranteed a place in the national team for the September 9 — 15 qualifiers and will join forces with his new teammates of 10 males and seven females for the final stage of preparations before embarking on their Olympic journey via Dakar.
While in camp, the male boxers will seek to make a strong impression on coach Asare and his assistants to secure spots in seven weight categories to be contested at the qualifiers Dakar, with Ghana expected to compete in five of the six weight categories in Dakar.
Only the gold medal winners from the seven male weight categories and the gold and silver medal winners from six of the female categories will earn qualification spots for the Olympics.
Beyond the African qualifiers in Dakar, Ghana's boxers will have two more opportunities to secure their Olympic qualifications in Europe in 2024 at yet-to-be-determined dates and venues.