Three names have emerged as potential aspirants to succeed Peter Zwennes as president of the Ghana Boxing Authority (GBA).
Zwennes, who has been in charge of the GBA since 2013, has decided not to contest for the third time when the GBA goes to congress to elect new executives later this year, sources have told BoxingAfrica.com.
The long-time leader’s decision has paved the way for three names: Current first and second vice-presidents of the GBA, Henry Manly-Spain and Abraham Kotey Neequaye, along with former lightweight boxer Rabon Dodoo have expressed interest in leading the GBA as president for the next four years.
The source explained that the executive board of the GBA hadn’t met yet were yet to decide on the date to go for congress with June being the authority’s stipulated month to elect new executives.
“The GBA will be going for congress this year but I can tell you that Peter Zwennes is not interested in going for a third time.
“No date has been agreed on yet but the executive board will take a decision on that in subsequent meetings. Currently, I know of three aspirants but we have to wait and see what happens,” the source told BoxingAfrica.com.
Zwennes took over as president from Samir Captan in 2013, when the legal practitioner upset the highly favored Henry Manly-Spain of Golden Mike Promotions in a landslide victory.
In 2017, he ran unopposed and won again. During his tenure, Ghana added two world titles in boxing: In 2018, Isaac Dogboe captured the WBO World Super Bantamweight belt when he defeated Mexico’s Jessie Magdaleno in 2018 and in 2019, Richard Commey knocked out Isa Chaniev to claim the IBF World Lightweight crown.
More candidates are expected to vie for the open position. Here is a short profile of the three known prospects:
Henry Manly-Spain
The businessman is no stranger to the boxing fraternity. He is currently the first vice president of the GBA and owns Golden Mike Promotions.
Manly-Spain’s vast knowledge of the sport could work in his favor. However, he previously contested for this position in 2013 and lost in decisive fashion.
Abraham Kotey Neequaye
A former manager of Emmanuel ‘Gameboy’ Tagoe, Abraham Kotey Neequaye is the second vice president of the GBA.
Neequaye worked with the Baby Jet Promotions and was instrumental in helping Tagoe win the IBO world lightweight title in 2016. He has also managed the likes of Brimah ‘Bukom Banku’ Kamoko, Michael ‘One Bullet’ Ansah and George ‘Red Tiger’ Ashie, among others.
With rich experience in management, the politician will look to bring his expertise to bear to help the association in its bid to continue producing world champions.
Rabon Dodoo
Rabon Dodoo was a professional boxer in the 1980’s who rose to become a second vice president of the GBA from 2013 to 2017.
Dodoo now heads the promotion department of the GBA and is in charge of sanctioning bouts as part of their executive board.
Entering the race as a former boxer, Dodoo will be hoping to leverage the support of past and present fighters to become the next GBA president.
