The management of Samuel Takyi has reached an agreement with the Ghana Boxing Authority (GBA) to enable the boxer to honor his June 11 bout in South Africa.
Takyi and his manager, Clement Mustapha Quartey, signed an undertaking to pay 2% of the boxer’s purse to the GBA development fund upon his return from Johannesburg.
The 21-year-old Olympic bronze medalist is scheduled to face Mandlenkosi Sibuso (4-1, 1 KO) in a super featherweight contest at the Emperors Palace in Johannesburg on a Golden Gloves promoted card.
“We have reached an amicable solution to this impasse and they have signed the undertaking to pay the percentage to the GBA,” Abraham Kotei Neequaye, president of the GBA, told BoxingAfrica.com.
“Samuel Takyi and his manager Clement Quartey came to the office today to sign the undertaking and I have issued them with the release letter for the fight.”
The surprising turn of events came on the heels of Takyi trainer and manager, Ike Quartey of Bazooka Management and Promotions, threatening the GBA with legal action for denying his boxer the right to work and earn a living.
Takyi’s bout with Sibuso was jeopardized when the GBA refused to issue the Ghanaian a release letter for his visa facilitation at the South African High Commission. The boxer’s crime was not signing a career-long undertaking which compels him to pay 2-5% of his purse from any international bout.
Clause 17 of the GBA Rules and Regulations Manual on foreign travels states that, “No boxer ordinarily resident in Ghana or licensed by the Ghana Boxing Authority shall be allowed to travel outside the country to engage in any professional boxing unless he has obtained a release letter from the authority.”
Rule number 18 further indicates that: “Boxers Licensed by the GBA and fighting under the flag of Ghana or not are expected to remit a percentage sum to their authority, such percentage amount will be determined from time to time by the Ghana Boxing Authority. With effect from January 1, 1996, the payment of a percentage by boxers engaged in local tournaments shall commence, such percentage to be determined from time to time by the Authority.”
However, the undertaking being demanded is not stipulated in the GBA regulations and by-laws but is expected to bind the boxer to honor the clauses in the authority’s constitution.
The GBA’s argument for the new undertaking is due to past experiences where fighters refused to pay their due after bouts abroad.
Meanwhile, calls made to Bazooka Management and Promotions for comment were not immediately returned.
