Clottey calls for regular championships to unearth, develop amateur boxers

Joshua Clottey, a former International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight champion, has urged the Ghanaian authorities to prioritise the revival of regular Individual National Championships for amateur fighters, stressing that consistent activity at the amateur level is essential for the sport’s success and for discovering and nurturing talented boxers.

Expressing concerns about the lack of regular fights for young boxers in Ghana, Clottey emphasised that the lack of regular competition hampered their development and capacity building, as it was not enough to merely identify talented boxers, but it was necessary to provide platforms and opportunities for these talents to showcase their skills and improve through regular competition.

“We have a very big problem with our sport in the country and if we don’t fight to bring back consistent national championships, we will fail to unearth talented boxers.

“My problem even has to do with how we prepare our young boxers when we discover them because we don’t get them regular fights to build their capacities,” he disclosed.

The Ghana Boxing Federation (GBF), the governing body for amateur boxing in the country, has consistently complained about the lack of funds to support grassroots development.

Currently, amateur fighters are typically produced within boxing gyms in Ghana, with minimal financial support from the government until they represent the nation at international competitions.

To address the current situation, Clottey suggested that the government should revisit past practices where amateur fighters were sponsored for training tours across the country and abroad.

He highlighted that such investments were instrumental in making Ghana a formidable force in boxing and producing world champions.

Clotted stressed that by providing consistent opportunities for competition and investing in training programmes, Ghana can increase its chances of producing future boxing champions.

“In our days, we had the chance to go on training tours throughout the country and abroad and it really helped us a lot.
“I believe the state must go back to those days if we really want to produce more future champions,” Clottey added.