Of Ike Quartey Sr. demise and John Laryea’s world champion’s prospect

Coach Carl Lokko (right) and John Laryea display a title belt

 Ghana lost her iconic first Olympic Games medallist, Clement Ike ‘Bazooka’ Nii Kpakpofio Quartey, over the weekend at the age of 86 in London.

Moments after the news of his demise broke, social media got flooded with reports as outlets competed to scoop each other, with some going to the extent of using images of the former WBA world champion, Ike ‘Bazooka’ Quartey, who is a half-brother.

This generation knows little or nothing about this fallen hero. Some even thought it was the ‘Bazooka’ they knew until clarifications were put out.

But for those who don’t know much and won’t bother to check, this piece of information should help them know the status of the Ike Quartey Snr being discussed.

‘Bazooka’ Snr was the first African and Ghanaian to win an Olympic medal in any sport. He did so from the 1960 Olympic Games held in Rome.

That feat brought honour to not only Ghana but Africa as a continent.

Two years later, he won gold medal at the 1962 Commonwealth Games held in Perth, Australia to establish Ghana as a powerhouse in the sport and added another gold medal from the inaugural African Boxing Championship in Cairo, Egypt.

Sadly, instead of dominating discussions on sports platforms, the feat of an emerging world champion prospect, John Laryea in the United States of America halted the discussion, at least for now.

Comparatively, this new kid on the block is yet to record a feat closer to the amateur legend but considering the state of Ghana boxing at present, the joy from the win of an ordinary contest is understandable.

And what has attracted the attention of many is the fact that Laryea is coming from the Akoto Lante based Bronx Boxing gym that have contributed immensely in producing the last few champions or half-baked champions from Ghana.

Readily coming to mind is Richard ‘Azonto’ Commey who started a burgeoning career under the Head Coach of the gym, Carl Lokko.

Holding so much promise, Commey became the face of the gym although there were senior boxers around and when he rose through the ranks to become a world champion, it came as little surprise to anyone that knew the pair.

It was unfortunate that camaraderie between coach and boxer was broken at some point as both pursued individual careers.

Bronx gym has since remained in the hunt for another potential world beater for many years with many boxers getting several chances but to no avail until the emergence of Laryea.

Laryea is an unbeaten WBO African featherweight champion at 14-0-1, 12 KOs.

Having dominated in Ghana and African rings, he made his debut in America over the weekend, defeating Nicaraguan boxer, Alexander Mejia, in a featherweight contest with a Unanimous Decision at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida, on Friday, November 1.

His journey so far has been hailed by many, showing a similar dedication and commitment seen from the former world champion, Commey.

Known as the ‘Expensive boxer’, this is just the beginning of a long, difficult, enduring and tortuous journey for him to become a world champion in the featherweight division.

It is considered as one of the most difficult weight divisions and requires discipline and commitment to rule.

Azumah Nelson remained at the top of those twin divisions – feather and super featherweights, for 10 years and dealt with some of the finest brawlers across the globe.

If Azumah did that then Laryea with similar traits can do same or even better.

All he needs is the discipline to go on that wild journey.

 By Andrew Norte