Ghana Action

George Ashie, aka Red Dragon, shocked the throng of fans who came to see their idol Abdul Malik Jabir when he easily dismissed his opponent in the opening round of their highly anticipated ten round Super Featherweight grudge match. Bukom Snake, as Jabir is known to his legions, was put under early pressure from a blistering body shot. Ashie calmly moving forward with measured head movement, then connected with a blistering combo capped off by a straight right which deposited the former ABU champ on the seat of his pants. Jabir beat the count but was unresponsive to the ref who waved it off immediately causing a mid-ring confrontation with Jabir's corner. Minor chaos ensued in the ring as officials had to separate Jabir and Ashie from continuing their fisticuffs but eventually calmer heads prevailed. Ashie, improving to 21-3-1, next faces world class countryman Maxwell Awuku for the vacant Commonwealth Super featherweight belt. Jabir drops his eighth fight in twenty-three matches but continues to remain one of the biggest draws in Ghana.

Earlier, Nigerian strongman Sunday King Hammer made known his presence to local fans combining a bit of showboating with punching power to seemingly dominate stylish local Middleweight contender Laatekwei Hammond for the vacant interim WBO Africa belt. Though Hammer, entering with a 12-2 record, rocked the shorter Ghanaian several times during the bout, he failed to follow up strongly time and again allowing the fight to be determined by the three Ghanaian judges. End result, the local lad was crowned the new champion on a twelve round split decision. The Nigerian visitor, though visibly upset, was gracious in defeat and asked for a rematch while his manager, Elum Onyeka, filed protests with the WBO and Ghanaian commission delegates while also claiming an attempt at bribery by the opponent's camp immediately before the match. Hammond improves to 17-5.

In a scheduled twelve rounder, vet campaigner Prosper Ankrah put on a deft display of boxing skills in dismantling his southpaw opponent Michael Barnor in six rounds for the vacant National Bantamweight title. Ankrah improves to a reported 13-2 while Barnor, a recent challenger for the WBO Africa Super Bantamweight belt, drops to 9-2-2. The popular Ben Ankrah, otherwise known as "Congo Soldier", made it four wins in a row on the comeback trail with a second round blowout over mismatched novice King Adams in a Lightweight encounter scheduled for ten. Congo Soldier improves to 15-10. Rising prospect Richard Commey, also at Lightweight, stayed unbeaten in five outings with a second round decapitation of the winless Dan Quartey in a bout scheduled for eight.

Two other eight rounders saw vets Bilal Mohammad and Osumanu Akaba stay busy against very soft opposition. Super Lightweight Mohammad collected his nineteenth win against four losses but struggled in an uneventful outing against perennial loser Emmanuel Quaye to eek out a split decision win. In the show opener, former WBC International Featherweight title holder Akaba, now performing at Lightweight, bored fans for six rounds against novice Tackie Annan until their cornermen mercifully pulled their man out between rounds. Akaba raises his stats to 25-5-1.