Head of Sports for Accra based Television network HSTV, Dennis Moore, had a telephone dialogue with renowned boxing power player and guru in the pugilism business, Peter Khan, on his Ultimate Sports Show on Monday night, discussing Richard Commey and Emmanuel Tagoe, whom he is co-managing.
Enjoy the nice telephone dialogue, as transcribed by BoxingGhana’s international transcriber, Anthony Arthur.
Dennis Moore: Hello Peter.
Peter Kahn: Yes how are you?
Dennis Moore : I’m doing great. How is the USA now.
Peter Kahn: Everything is fantastic and I’m happy to be speaking with you.
Dennis Moore: Wonderful. You are live on HSTV and the show is Ultimate Sports, with me Dennis Moore. Let’s quickly go ahead Peter. So, now what is really happening in your camp? We are aware that you’re planning to take away Emmanuel Tagoe to the USA for further exploits. How is the calendar like? What are the procedures for all your trips for Emmanuel Tagoe.
Peter Kahn: First of all thank you for having me on your show and it’s a pleasure to be speaking with you, and I’m happy to share our plans. Interestingly enough, Emmanuel Tagoe was going to fight Mercito Gesta for the … possibly the number one position in the WBO. That was going to take place in June. Except this past week, on Thursday Mercito Gesta lost in Los Angeles on the Golden Boy Promotions card. It was an upset. He wasn’t supposed to lose, but he did lose. So that has changed our plans a little bit. But Emmanuel Tagoe has moved up in the ratings. He is now number 3 in the world in WBO and I believe he’s still sitting at number 9 in the IBF. Originally we were going to fight in California against Mercito Gesta, who’s number 2 in the WBO, and that would have been the number 4 and number 2 fighters fighting for number one spot. So those plans have changed a little bit.
But there also have been some other information that I think the people in Ghana would want to know. That is, that I know Richard Commey has been saying that he has been cleared to fight by his doctor in Ghana. But he is travelling to New York, I believe next week, but he still has not been medically cleared by the doctor that originally saw him. So that is number one.
Number two is, Vasily Lomachenko is fighting Andrew Crolla on April 12 … the IBF title as an optional defense and I can tell you this, Tagoe will take that fight in a heartbeat, but the truth of the matter is Richard Commey does not want to fight Emmanuel Tagoe.
Dennis Moore: Yes. I mean that’s a very interesting question Ghanaians would really want to ask you. Why are you avoiding Emmanuel Tagoe fighting Richard Commey? Because it’s a likable fight. It’s there on paper. So why are you guys trying to shield both of them?
Peter Kahn: Listen, we offered to promote this fight in Ghana in a big stadium and make this a world lightweight title fight. The bottom line is that, my personal feeling is that, number one, think Richard Commey is a great fighter, I think he is a great person, I think he is a great champion and everybody should be very proud of his performance when he won the title but he does not want to fight Emmanuel Tagoe.
The other thing is that his management does not like the people that handle Emmanuel Tagoe in Ghana and he’s been telling everybody in the United States that he doesn’t like those people and therefore he doesn’t want Commey to fight Emmanuel Tagoe. But I think it’s nonsense.
I think that his manager knows that Emmanuel Tagoe will outbox and will beat Richard Commey. I think everybody underestimates Emmanuel Tagoe. So that is my personal opinion. The other thing is that because of the deal that was made between DiBella Entertainment and between Top Rank for Commey to fight Isa Chaniev on ESPN, because of that deal Top Rank has to also approve the opponent for Commey because originally Commey was supposed to fight Vasily Lomachenko on April 12. So I will tell you this, I’m sure top rank would be very open to a major fight in Ghana between Commey and Tagoe.
But the truth of the matter is and I’ll say it now and I will say it to their face, Richard Commey is afraid to fight Emmanuel Tagoe and his management is afraid for him to fight Emmanuel Tagoe.”
Dennis Moore: Interesting. Certainly we would be talking about this particular topic in the coming weeks. Even before I let you go, Peter, when you came to Ghana, what was the general view about Ghana boxing, and is it on the rise? What did you see when you came over. How did you see Ghana Boxing?
Peter Kahn: I see Ghana boxing where I’ve always seen Ghana boxing. From the time of Azumah Nelson to Nana Konadu, to all the other great fighters and the other seven world champions in the addition to the two fighters that I just named. I said this to people in Ghana, and I’ll say it again. There’s no better boxing in Africa than Ghana. It is the top of the line. The most competitive. Fighters that can box, fighters that are big punchers. Good people. I had an incredible time with the people from the BabyJet Promotions. From Baffour Gyan to Abraham and Mike Tettey, I mean, these guys are fantastic. They showed me a great time while I was there. They are great people. I don’t understand how Richard Commey’s team couldn’t find them to be easy to work with. But I just think it’s an excuse. But we’ll see what happens. Ones again, I couldn’t say any better things about Ghana and Ghana boxing. And I really hope to come back soon and to give opportunity and also find opportunities to work with more boxers from Ghana.
Dennis Moore: Thank you very much Peter. Your final words for Ghana and yourself, you’re doing a very wonderful job. So your final words for Ghana.
Peter Kahn: Thank you for having me. My final word is people should keep doing what they’re doing. The fighters are getting better and better and I think there’s going to be more world champions. I think that there’s going to be more people from Ghana. More fighters are going to continue to challenge for world titles, and I think we’re going to see that happen fairly quickly. If I work, right now in the boxing scene in Ghana, if I were the people, I would demand to see Richard Commey and Emmanuel Tagoe fight for the IBF lightweight title in Ghana.
Dennis Moore: Wonderful. I think these are subjects we’ll be calling you to give us your experienced analysis in the coming weeks. That fight, Ghanaians really love it. They really want to see the fight.
Peter Kahn: Let’s make it happen. Thank you so much.
Dennis Moore: Thank you so much Peter. Thank you. Bye.