Just when it appeared Ghana boxing had hit rock bottom, it has found new depths to sink to.
Box Office Sports Promotions CEO, Alex Ntiamoah-Boakye will seek legal redress to challenge his ban by the Ghana Boxing Authority (GBA).
Ntiamoah, who faces a two-year ban from all boxing related activities, says he will challenge the decision at the courts to clear his name.
“I sat with my lawyers and decided that we needed to take the GBA on for their constant attacks on my person,” Ntiamoah -Boakye told BoxingAfrica.com.
“The GBA continues to paint me black even when I’ve done nothing wrong but I am not going to allow them to succeed.”
Ntiamoah-Boakye’s quest comes in the wake of the GBA Executive Board’s decision to impose a two-year suspension on him for violating the ban on drumming and noise-making, as directed by the Ga State and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA).
According to a statement signed by Abraham Kotei Neequaye, President of the GBA, Ntiamoah-Boakye, along with Splendor 3 (S3) Boxing Promotions, disregarded the imposed measures by organizing a boxing event on Sunday, May 28, 2023, at the Seconds Out Gym in Accra rather than holding the event in Ashaiman, as earlier discussed.
The GBA boss told BoxingAfrica.com that his outfit had communicated the authority’s decision to halt all boxing activities within the Ga Mashie area in respect of the ban on drumming and noise-making until it is lifted.
Neequaye explained that Ntiamoah-Boakye’s disregard for the directive is in contravention of Article 21 Clause (b) of the Rules and Regulations governing professional boxing in Ghana which states that all licensees are required to adhere strictly to the provisions enshrined in the ethical code of conduct.
Ntiamoah-Boakye vehemently denies this allegation.
“I paid for the promotion of the said bout at the GBA through a letter which stated where and when the show would take place before the date was agreed on.
“If the GBA boss says he issued a circular to stakeholders about halting boxing events in respect of the ban on drumming and noise-making then he should produce that letter,” said Ntiamoah-Boakye.
“I remember meeting him at the Bukom Boxing Arena and [Neequaye] spoke to me to consider changing the venue of the show but that was even a verbal appeal so I don’t know where all these allegations are coming from.”
Meanwhile, the banning of the Box Office Sports Promotions CEO took a different dimension last Friday when some demonstrators besieged the Bukom Boxing Arena to call out Neequaye for picking on Ntiamoah-Boakye.
The demonstrators held placards calling on the GBA boss to quickly reverse the decision to suspend the renowned boxing promoter since he did nothing wrong.
“All those who came here to destroy properties of the Trust Sports Emporium were sent by Alex Ntiamoah-Boakye and I can tell you that the police has taken over the matter,” Neequaye alleged in an interview with BoxingAfrica.com.
“Is that how to seek redress when you are punished for any wrongdoing in an institution? It was a decision of the GBA board to sanction him and not my personal choice so I don’t know where all these attacks are coming from.”
While Neequaye argues that the demonstrators were sent to destroy GBA property, others opine that the GBA president is bent on destroying Ghana boxing.
In the meantime, Neequaye wants to call for an emergency meeting among the GBA Executive Board to decide on whether to extend Ntiamoah-Boakye’s ban for his behaviour in hiring people to destroy properties of Trust Sports Emporium.
