Badu Sumaila retains title

Badu Sumaila, the national super flyweight champion retained his title on Saturday morning at the Globe Cinema Hall when he won a unanimous decision over Asamoah Wilson.

The bout which was a top liner of a six bout package put forward by Ambition and Nii Armah Promotions had all the ingredients of a championship fight as the two boxers thrilled spectators with some artistic boxing.

In the end, Badu got the nod on all three judges cards as Fred Ghartey scored it 119 - 110, Abbey Adamah made it 118 - 110 and Ataa Eddie Pappoe recorded 114 - 113 to give the champion a unanimous verdict.

Badu told the GNA Sports after the verdict that he was ripe to win laurels for Ghana in professional boxing and called on the GBA to offer him for a Commonwealth title fight.

"I want to raise the flag of Ghana very high and I promise to win the Commonwealth title if I am given the chance to fight for it," he said.

The fight started on a ferocious note with both boxers charging at each other with bombs and by the end of the second round they had disfigured faces as their foreheads swelled up and displayed big lumps which made fans fear the fight would not go the distance.

It was so competitive that the two boxers tried both fair and foul means to win culminating in Asamoah poking his knees into the midsection of the champion in the second and trying to tackle him down in the third.

The hands of the two boxers did not rest at all as they traded fierce punches and punished each other severely to portray the grudge nature of the contest which led to Asamoah losing a point in the fourth round when he kicked Badu.

By the fifth round the tempo appeared to be slowing down but that did not deprive the fans of action because even in their fatigued state the boxers pummelled each other but it was clear that Badu was the better conditioned boxer as he connected more accurate and heavier punches.

Badu dictated the pace, hitting Asamoah at will and running away from him when he tried to counter and by the eighth round the challenger's face had become concocted and he looked very different from the challenger who had boasted of winning the belt.

It was indeed a one way traffic and referee Godfrey Cobblah was compelled to invite ring side doctor Daniel Carl Sonne to examine Asamoah's face injuries in the 11th round as some fans tried to force his corner to throw in the towel.

The doctor gave him the go ahead to continue and he returned to be at the receiving end of sporadic assault and bombardment from the champion who had asserted his influence and assumed full command of the fight.

In the final round, the champion sustained his dominance as he ducked and dodged the wild punches of his opponent and connected some piston left jabs, hammer rights and lefts and right combinations which drew cheers from his supporters.

In one of the under cards Moro Tijani, the pride of the Armed Forces nearly became the shame of the Armed Forces when he was subjected to severe punishment from Jamiru Tyson a game Nigerian welterweight in a 10 round international catch weight contest.

The Ghanaian soldier hit the canvas in the first round and got the mandatory eight count to the amazement of his supporters.

The younger Nigerian had Moro on the defensive through out the fight and was obviously the harder hitter of the two but the judges posted a draw decision, which was interpreted by some fans as a homeboy verdict.

The Nigerian had dominated the first six rounds and even when Moro tried to fight back it was apparent that his limbs had weakened due to age and he had lost most of the speed and power which had made him a fearsome adversary in the pugilistic trade.

In the end Moro attributed his lack lustre performance to the difference in weight and announced his intention to challenge Ataa Gyata, the national super lightweight champion.

Joseph Agbeko, WBF International Bantamweight Champion had a technical knockout over his Beninoise opponent Agbatomey Charlemagne in one minute, two seconds of the fourth round of a scheduled ten- round super bantamweight contest.

The WBF titleholder did not waste much energy in sending his opponent to a journey of no return after the fourth round, as the Beninoise failed to answer the bell for the fifth. In an eight round super featherweight contest between Amidu Abdullai and Kabiru Mohamed of Benin, the Beninoise could not go past the first round as he knelt down and raised his right hand after two minute 52 seconds of the first round to signal his inability to continue.

This was after Mohamed had taken some strong body punches from the Ghanaian.

Bilal Mohamed increased his fight record to five knockouts and a loss, when he defeated Ardey Dauda in two minutes 46 seconds of the sixth round in their eight round lightweight contest.

Dauda who could be referred to as a cannon fodder for potential champions has lost all seven fights since turning a professional boxer.

Debutant Joe Coffie put up an impressive performance against Philip Kotey but lost on a unanimous points decision to Kotey.