Ghana’s boxing industry remains paralyzed under a government suspension, yet officials appointed to the sport’s controversial Interim Management Committee continue officiating international bouts, creating anger among local stakeholders who say they’re being shut out while insiders conduct business as usual.
Roger Barnor, former acting President of the Ghana Boxing Authority, and Samir Captan, Chairman of the Ghana Professional Boxing Interim Management Committee and WBO Africa representative, both worked a Friday night card in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where Ghanaian boxer Cann Neequaye lost his WBO Africa Junior Featherweight title challenge to Tanzania’s Salim Kassim via unanimous decision.
The optics couldn’t be worse for an administration trying to justify why all boxing activities in Ghana remain suspended following the September 23 death of boxer Ernest “Bahubali” Akushey. While claiming reforms require a complete shutdown of domestic boxing, officials connected to the new IMC travel internationally for paid assignments, raising questions about whether the suspension truly addresses safety concerns or simply consolidates control.
Captan presented the WBO Africa belt to Kassim after the Tanzanian improved his record to 9-0-2 with the victory over Neequaye, whose record dropped to 15-2. For Neequaye, the loss marked his second defeat this year after Daniel Otoo beat him in March at Accra’s “Shi shi shi” Boxing Night celebrating Ghana’s Independence Day anniversary.
The National Sports Authority suspended all boxing activities and dissolved the Ghana Boxing Authority board on September 25, two days after Akushey’s death, citing the need to strengthen medical, technical, and regulatory procedures. The NSA simultaneously announced plans to establish a nine-member Interim Management Committee to oversee reforms during the suspension period.
That IMC has since clarified that Ghanaian boxers can still compete abroad if they pass strict medical checks and secure clearance, an exemption that technically allows fighters like Neequaye to take international bouts while domestic promotions remain frozen. However, the exemption does nothing for Ghana-based promoters, trainers, gym owners, and support personnel whose livelihoods depend on local fight cards.
Evans Bernie Johnson, Chairman of the Greater Accra Amateur Boxing Association, described the situation as resembling a coup d’etat where legitimate boxing authorities were toppled and replaced by government appointees. “We have to protect our integrity, our investment, our passion and our sport by resisting the oppressor’s rule,” he stated, using surprisingly militant language for what’s ostensibly a sports administration dispute.
Johnson questioned what reforms an Interim Management Committee could implement to prevent boxing deaths, noting that fighters sign contracts acknowledging the sport’s inherent dangers. “Boxing is a profession just like a soldier going to war and defending his nation,” he argued, suggesting that risk cannot be eliminated regardless of administrative changes.
His comments reflect deep skepticism among boxing stakeholders about whether the suspension genuinely addresses safety concerns or represents government overreach into sports administration. Major stakeholders including the Professional Boxers Association of Ghana, United Boxing Coaches Association, Boxing Promoters Association, and several other groups met September 28 and unanimously rejected the IMC’s legitimacy.
Alex Ntiamoah Boakye, CEO of Box Office Promotions, warned that stakeholders plan to “use legitimate means to address their concerns,” including seeking legal advice, closing all gyms, and organizing mass demonstrations to “take back our rights and freedom to operate.” That threat of coordinated resistance suggests the boxing community views this as existential battle rather than temporary administrative inconvenience.
Boxing enthusiast Augustus Dodoo captured the frustration many feel about the double standard: “How can Ghana boxing be suspended yet the ‘bigmen’ go and work in Tanzania with Ghanaian boxers while records are altered?” His reference to altered records isn’t explained but suggests concerns about transparency in how Ghanaian boxers’ international results are being documented during the domestic suspension.
The suspension came after Akushey collapsed during a September 23 bout and died shortly after, the latest in a series of boxing fatalities that have plagued Ghana’s ring in recent years. The tragedy provided justification for government intervention that boxing insiders argue had been brewing regardless of specific incidents.
Whether the NSA genuinely seeks to improve safety or primarily wants to assert control over a sport that has operated with considerable autonomy becomes harder to defend when officials connected to the new oversight structure continue their international work uninterrupted. If the situation is truly an emergency requiring complete domestic shutdown, shouldn’t those tasked with reforms be focused entirely on implementing changes rather than maintaining their international officiating careers?
The IMC’s exemption allowing international competition while domestic cards remain banned creates awkward contradictions. If Ghanaian boxers are safe to compete in Tanzania after medical clearance, why can’t they compete in Accra under the same conditions? If international sanctioning bodies like the WBO consider Ghana’s officials qualified to work their events, what specific deficiencies require replacing Ghana’s boxing administration?
Johnson’s investment argument resonates particularly with promoters and gym owners who’ve sunk capital into developing fighters, organizing events, and building businesses around Ghana’s boxing ecosystem. A prolonged suspension without clear timeline or specific reform benchmarks threatens financial ruin for enterprises that operate on thin margins even during normal circumstances.
The comparison to a coup reflects how boxing stakeholders view the abrupt dissolution of elected boxing authority leadership and replacement with government appointees. While the NSA has legal authority to intervene in sports federations under its jurisdiction, the manner and timing of intervention has generated accusations of arbitrary exercise of power.
What remains unclear is the suspension’s endgame. The NSA hasn’t announced specific reforms required before lifting restrictions, provided timelines for implementing changes, or outlined measurable criteria for determining when boxing can resume. That ambiguity leaves stakeholders unable to plan, creates space for competing narratives about government intentions, and fuels conspiracy theories about ulterior motives.
For Ghanaian boxers, the suspension creates impossible choices. Stay home and watch careers stagnate while waiting for domestic boxing to resume, or take international fights knowing that opportunities outside Ghana are limited and success abroad does nothing to restart the local ecosystem that nurtured their development.
The Tanzania bout illustrated these contradictions perfectly. Ghanaian officials working the event, Ghanaian boxer competing, WBO sanctioning, yet none of this activity could happen in Ghana itself where boxing remains under indefinite suspension. The spectacle of Ghana’s boxing apparatus functioning normally in Dar es Salaam while Accra’s gyms sit idle and promoters face financial pressure made the suspension’s inconsistencies impossible to ignore.
Whether stakeholders’ threatened resistance materializes into actual demonstrations or legal challenges remains to be seen. Ghana’s boxing community has fractured along multiple fault lines over the years, making sustained unified action difficult. But the current situation has created unusual consensus among groups that often disagree, united by perception that government has overstepped legitimate regulatory authority.
Source: newsghana.com.gh
