Amateur boxers soon to be registered in Accra

Accra, April 18, GNA - Amateur boxers belonging to the various gyms in the Greater Accra Region will soon be registered and given cards similar to footballers to forestall the rampant poaching of such boxers by the gyms.

The exercise, according to the Mr Gideon Quartey, Vice Chairman of the Greater Accra Amateur Boxing Association in an interview with the Mr Quartey said at the scenario at the moment is that there is total reaping off of the smaller gyms who sink millions into the development of the boxers only for the more glamorous ones to poach them when they are almost ripe.

"This is affecting some of the gyms as some of them pick the boxers from nowhere, cloth, feed and train them only for them to go scot-free" "When this is done, it will enable the gym owners to sit down and negotiate the release of their boxers to ensure that at least there will be some form of compensation paid them as a way of motivating them to continue unearthing more amateur boxers"

Mr Quartey said the registration when done will not only bring sanity into the amateur ranks but would also ensure proper documentation of the all boxers in the Region.

He said this radical gesture is aimed at reenergising amateur boxing in the Greater Accra Region as a first step towards improving the standard of the sport at the national level.

Mr Quartey whose administration took office on February 10 this year, has personally donated 11 trophies to the Association to be competed for in the novelty quarterly championship, which commences at the Korle Gonno Beach Resort from April 19 to 21.

He said the trophies, worth five million cedis, will be kept by respective winners in all weight divisions and returned a fortnight for the next competition, which will be three months from the previous one.

The Vice Chairman, who is also the proprietor of Dade Boxing Gym at Labone in Accra and a member of the Tamale Boxing Club, said in addition to the trophies, there would be little cash rewards, souvenirs and some beverages for both finalists in each weight category.

Dilating on the state of the sport in the country, Mr Quartey said the bad method of selection of boxers into the national team was the main cause of the poor results the national boxing team, the Bombers had achieved over the years, adding that a national team should only be formed after a series of championship fights.

The Vice Chairman also blamed some of the boxers for not being disciplined as they do not take instructions and comport themselves well enough at training sessions.