Children are often the first fans that troupe to various boxing centers in Ghana and last night at the Bukom Boxing Arena, they were there in their numbers.
One would wonder why will this young ones walk from their homes in the neighboring Communities; Jamestown, Ussher Town, Agbado, Chorkor, Timber Market and Osu to catch a glimpse of the action, especially when the Ghana Boxing League is aired on TV.
The chorus would be that children in these areas are exposed to boxing and always want to come and watch. Well the kids have a different perspective.
BoxinGhana.com interacted with some young protégés at the arena, and their collective answers sum up to one thing; watching live bouts are a learning opportunity and networking events.
Edward Bonar of Attoh Quarshie Gym who has been learning boxing for 5 years was there to watch is idol, young Prince Larbi and he was looking forward to watch Larbi in action because he loves his fighting style and acknowledges him as a champion. In Bonar’s own words he said, “When I watch Prince Larbi, I look at some punching styles and I try to emulate it when I am fighting.”
Others came to the arena because for them, boxing is a loyalty game so if one of their gym mates is fighting they have to come around to support them. This is the reason why young Emmanuel Dzumor was at the Bukom Boxing Arena to support John Quaye. Emmauel has been learning boxing for 5 years now at the Sea View Boxing Club.
Chorkor Champs’ Paul Balogu was at the arena to learn from Ramanan and C. P. Oko. According to him, he attends boxing fights to learn new techniques to improve his craft. He recalls how his footwork has improved after watching Ashie Vs Quaye.
Finally others were there to network and get closer to the action. Jeffrey Nii Adjei Sowah who has been learning boxing for the past 2 months at Wisdom Boxing Gym explained that coming to boxing bouts helps him to make new friends from other boxing clubs.
Secondly, even though they have a TV at home, watching from home does not give him the satisfaction he gets from seeing the show live directly from the arena and speaking to others about the fans.