Ghanaian boxing great, Nana Yaw Konadu has called on the government to prioritise and invest in boxing for the nation to make resources available to train skilled boxers for international bouts and to derive the optimum benefit from the sport.
Comparatively, he said boxing was now a lucrative sport, creating job opportunities for young people elsewhere, and called for investment into infrastructure development, including coaching and training.
Nana Konadu said: “It’s unfortunate that boxing has been relegated to the background with the nation denying the sport the required investments”.
“However, it’s sad that boxing in the country is seen and labeled as hustling. In fact, it’s now seen as a sport reserved for hustlers”, Nana Konadu, a former world boxing champion told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) sport in Sunyani.
The former boxer said he was a world champion in two weight classes, having held the World Boxing Council (WBC) super-flyweight title from 1989 to 1990, and the World Boxing Association (WBA) bantamweight title twice between 1996 and 1998.
Nana Konadu indicated that the Bono Region was blessed with good and enterprising boxers, however challenges ranging from lack of infrastructure development to qualified coaches and trainers remained major setbacks towards the quest to groom younger talents.
“I always encourage the young and upcoming boxers here to move to Accra and to build on their talents because it’s time wasting to be in the region and pursue your career as a boxer”, he stated.
Nana Konadu said the various regions required modern training equipment, standard gyms, and boxing rings to help unearth and nurture the talents of young boxers.
“The government must invest and construct standard boxing rings, training equipment and gyms to position the regions well to nurture and training boxers”, he added. –GNA
