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President of the Ghana Amateur Boxing Federation (GBF), Mr. George Lamptey has deflated claims that Olympic bronze medalist Samuel Takyi has been promoted from amateur boxer to the professional level.
The 20-year old boxer said in an interview on TV 3 Warm Up Plus Show that his days as an amateur boxer were over and will move on to the next level after achieving his dream of winning an Olympic medal in Tokyo.[ads2]
According to Mr Lamptey, the young boxer is not ready to fight as a professional and misunderstood the question asked hence his answer to fight professionally.
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Speaking to the media, Mr Lamptey said: “No he’s not turning professional as at now it was a question they asked him and he didn’t think of it very well but I’ve spoken to him and he had no idea so that interview can be discarded.[ads3]
“He’s focusing on his amateur career, I’ve spoken to his management and they were also surprised and so in a nut shell he has shelved that decision and focusing on his next step of his career”
Mr. Lamptey noted that “it will take a lot of consultations to turn Takyi into a professional boxer.[ads4]
He explained that “we will need to consult his management as well as professional boxers like former world champion Azumah Nelson before we come to a conclusion to so that we don’t jeopardise his boxing career after he has lifted the flag of Ghana.
Ghana has a lot of championships like the 2024 Olympic Games, 2022 Commonwealth Games and 2023 African Games to tackle and will need the services of experienced boxers like Samuel Takyi.
By Sammy Heywood Okine[ads5]
