Raymond Narh dethrones Smith Odoom

Raymond Narh knocked out champion Smith Odoom on Saturday morning at the Accra Sports Stadium to become the new national and West African featherweight champion. The fight ended in the 10th round when a cornerman of Odoom rushed into the ring, forcing referee Godfrey Cobbla to halt proceedings and award Narh the title by a technical knockout.

Odoom had been decked by a barrage of thunderous punches from the challenger and as he rose, he staggered into a neutral corner panting for breath and instead of throwing in the towel, his cornerman vaulted into the ring to signal that he had had enough. It was an action packed fight from the first round with Odoom carrying the fight to his younger opponent who avoided the bombs of the champion by jabbing persistently to keep him at bay.

From the second round, Narh who won a gold medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games took over the pace of the fight and stunned his opponent with a series of combination punches, while his left hand kept popping like a piston into the champion's face. The fight slowed down a little bit in the fourth round while Odoom sought the big punch but anytime he fired, Narh either ducked or back pedalled, making the champion miss wildly.

The next round painted a picture of glory for the challenger as he dominated and staggered the stocky champion with some straight rights to the head. From that moment, it was a one way traffic and Odoom remained at the receiving end while Narh jabbed, bobbed, ducked and stung him at will.

Narh had Odoom in trouble most of the time but lacked the killer punch to end the fight and sometimes the champion had to find solace on the ropes to remain on his feet.

The challenger appeared complacent in the ninth round as he discarded his style and attempted to mix it up with the champion, making him vulnerable to three big punches, which visibly hurt him. He ended the round beating the retreat and trying to stay away from further action.

Narh came back strongly in the tenth round and hemmed Odoom in a neutral corner, pummelling him persistently with everything he had in his arsenal but the game champion absorbed all the punishments until he was caught with another barrage of power shot in the red corner.

He slumped into the ropes, then onto the canvas and when he rose at the count of seven, he appeared dazed and his corner intervened to save him from further punishment, thus enthroning Narh a national and West African champion after only his fifth professional fight.

But by jumping into the ring instead of throwing in the towel, the Ghana Boxing Authority announced that disciplinary action would be taken against Odoom's corner for violating the rules.

In another title fight of the night put together by Prince and Baseline International Promotions Syndicate, Ben Neequaye became the new national and West African lightweight champion when he defeated the champion Ben Ankrah on a unanimous decision. Ankrah started the fight aggressively looking for a knockout but Neequaye jabbed continuously to pile up points while he punished the champion occasionally with powerful hooks to the face and mid-section.

The pattern continued till the end of the fight as the slugging champion looked for a hammer to end the fight but was out-boxed by the artistic challenger. In the end, all the three judges ruled in favour of Ben Neequaye and he was crowned the new national and West African Champion. Judge E. Pappoe scored it 120- 119, F. Ghartey recorded 118- 111 and S. Acquaye also scored it 117-112.

In a 10 round international middleweight contest which was one of the under cards James 'Hot Ice' Toney beat Sechigbe Naturim of the Republic of Benin by a Technical Knockout in 1 minute 33 seconds of the 6th round. It was a fight in which Toney met a stiff opposition in his opponent who matched him in all segments of the fight until the fateful sixth. By his feat, Toney still maintains his unbeaten record of 11 fights with 10 knockouts.

'Golden Boy' Osmanu Akaba won a unanimous decision over Benjamin Tutu from Kumasi in a bloody six round featherweight contest. Both boxers had cuts on their faces and the two kissed the canvas before the fight ended. Akaba went down twice while Tutu was decked once.

Abdulai Amidu knocked out debutant Imurana Bozo in one minute 49 seconds on the third of their six round featherweight contest. In a six round lightweight contest between Alex Brew and Jomo Jackson, Brew knocked out Jackson in round four while Alfred Tetteh won on a unanimous decision over Felix Narh in a six round catch-weight contest.