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The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has pledged the support of his government towards the revival of boxing and other sporting disciplines in the country, during his tenure of office.

According to President Akufo-Addo, this commitment is evidenced in the 100% increase in the budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Youth and Sports this year, with dedicated funds earmarked for the development of sporting disciplines other than football.  

The President made this known on Thursday, March 9, 2017, when a delegation, comprising the leadership of the Ghana Boxing Authority, led by its Chairman, Peter Zwennes, current and former Ghanaian boxing champions, paid a courtesy call on him at the Presidency.

The purpose of the visit was to congratulate him on his election as President of the Republic, and to invite him formally to the “Freedom Fight Night”, slated for Saturday, March 11, at the Bukom Boxing Arena, Accra, as part of the year-long celebration of Ghana’s 60th Independence anniversary. 

With Ghana abounding in sporting talents across all fields, President Akufo-Addo noted that “unfortunately, in the last few years, it has been made to seem that football is the only sport that we are good at. It is not true.

We have had outstanding talents and champions in athletics, boxing, table tennis, amongst others, and it is about time we nurtured all the talents in our country to make it possible for people who have the ability and talent in these disciplines also to emerge.”

Recounting his association with the sport of boxing, President Akufo-Addo told the gathering that it was at the funeral of his late mother, in 2004, that Freddie Blay, who was then the 1st deputy Speaker of Parliament, now acting Chairman of the NPP, came across a picture of him as a young boy in boxing pose in his mother’s funeral brochure, and put it on the frontpage of his newspaper (Daily Guide).

This move, the President said, drew the attention of Ghanaians to his love for and association with the sport.

“I grew up as a young boy in Swalaba and Korle Wokon. Surpriser Sowah’s gym was around the corner, and we use to spend a lot of time there. I became so addicted to the sport that, as a young boy, I gave myself the nickname ‘Kid Gavilan’”, he said.

Gerardo González, better known in the boxing world as Kid Gavilan, was a former world welterweight champion from Cuba. He was also known as the Cuban Hawk.