UK boxing team outclass Greater Accra

Accra, Feb 17, GNA - The Greater Accra Amateur Boxing team had the shock of their lives when they were outclassed by their visiting English counterparts, Haringey Police and Community boxing team in an international tournament on Saturday.

The contest which came off at the Sacred Heart Technical Vocational Centre at James Town in Accra saw the much-determined English team, completely overwhelming their hosts whose pugilists looked stamina-suspect.

The Haringey Police and Community team won four of the six bouts, making a mockery of the huge physical structure of the host boxers, compelling them to settle with boos and jeers from their own home fans. The demolition started during the flyweight contest between Greater Accra's Samuel Yaw Addo and Ashley Sexton of the UK team. Addo launched his campaign on a bright note at the early stages of the bout with series of punches and jabs right from the onset against the skinny British, but he later ran out of steam. Sexton, a member of the British Amateur Boxing team, capitalized on his reach, height and stamina advantage to hand out "some great boxing tutorials" to Addo, who had run out of gas by the second round. The young British who became the toast of the fans was adjudged the winner, courtesy a 4-1 verdict.

In the Lightweight division, The UK team's Sam Ojomo defeated Evans Dodoo by a similar result, raising further concerns about the technical and tactical abilities of the host team.

The hard-hitting southpaw was too tall a mountain for Dodoo to climb, as the latter could only contend with feeble punches in distress after the first round.

Another southpaw, Chris Webb completed a hat-trick for the visiting team with a unanimous victory over Odoi Yemefio in the Light Welterweight division.

Webb, who bled through the nose after a punch in the third round, fought back strongly to win on the score cards of all the five judges. Emmanuel Quarshie restored some hope for the Greater Accra team courtesy a split decision (3-2) victory over Eric Ochieng in the Welterweight class. The well-built Quarshie knocked down his opponent some few seconds into the opening round and never looked back. In the Middleweight division, Greater Accra's Charles Stella unanimously defeated Kinsley Okolie of the Haringey Police and Community team, in one of the heated encounters of the night.

Luke Robinson finally edged out Sampson Dzaku in the Light Heavyweight via a split decision. Dzaku floored his opponent in the second round, but allowed the British to come back strongly to give his team their fourth win of the night.

The UK team will wrap up their tour with the final contest against their hosts on Wednesday, February 20 at the Prisons Canteen, Cantonment.