The Ghana Boxing Association (GBA) has organised a refresher courses for trainers in the pugilist profession as part of the Authority’s newly instituted programme to upgrade the technical competences to impact their respective boxers.
Under the tutelage of GBA’s technical Director, Mr. Peter Asandoh, the week long programme brought together trainers and assistant trainers from major boxing gyms in Accra.
The GBA technical director said the initiative will be sustained periodically and will be extended to other parts of the country for others who intend to take the sport.
Thunder Aryeh, a former Commonwealth featherweight and super featherweight champion and now a trainer at Akwamu Boxing Gym based in Atimpoku in the eastern region expressed his appreciation to the organisers and indicated the need to extend the training programmes to other parts of the country for upcoming trainers to also benefit from it.
Nana Adjei-Baah Elvis, who now trains former IBF Africa Super welterweight champion, Dodzi Kermah, lauded the organization of the training programme and was hopeful that many of such courses will in the long term reverse the fallen standard in the sport.
“Boxing has evolved over the years. So much is now involved that require trainers to up their game and improve their technical competences.”
The proprietor of Sagacious Boxing Club and younger brother of Professor Barimah Azumah Nelson, Joe Nelson bemoaned the lack of capacity workshops as one of the reasons for the dwindling fortunes of a sport that Ghana was once famous for producing world class boxers.
Joe Nelson said trainers have had to continue to deploy old fashioned ways of grooming young boxers as adding that until such initiatives are sustained, the sport will continue to take a downward spiral.
The training workshop drew participants from boxing gyms across the capital.