Michael Ansah gained a memorable revenge on Saturday when he stopped Sheriff Quaye in the 7th round of their scheduled 12-round national lightweight championship to become the new champion of the division.
The Bukom Boxing Arena, where the fight was held erupted into wild jubilation when Ansah, aka ‘One Bullet’ delivered the sucker punch that rendered the seemingly over confident former champion dazed.
Sheriff, also known as ‘One Time’ and heavy favourite resorted to clinching but after they were separated, another barrage of punches from Ansah dropped him to the canvass as the atmosphere went frenzy.
The referee, Michael Neequaye, attempted to help Sheriff up but when he failed to stand on his feet, it gave the referee the easiest task of ending it all for a dream victory for Ansah whose quest for the title has seen him lose two fights to Patrick Okine and one to Sheriff.
The fight was a remake of the duo’s contest in October that saw Sheriff claim victory via a split decision after 12 gut-wrenching rounds; a decision Ansah protested and promised to avenge.
Right from the referee’s signal for the commencement of the bout Ansah (15-9-2,10KOs) showed grit and determination and was the aggressor; catching Sheriff (16-1-1,9KOs) off guard with efficient and hard punches.
Ansah kept the chase and drew a lot of applause in the third round from the impressive gathering as he landed a powerful right hook to the face of Sheriff.
Ansah dictated the pace, jabbing and throwing hefty punches as Sheriff remained cautious and attempted a number of counter-punches.
It appeared from the fifth round the former champion was losing the plot as Ansah kept troubling him with the overhead punches and was lucky to have seen the referee rule a fall as a slip.
Ansah’s moment of magic came in the 7th round when he charged on a weary Sheriff with a string of strong punches and body shots at a neutral corner.
That left both boxers sprawling on the canvas as Ansah tried to free himself from the grips of Sheriff.
Cheered on by an exciting crowd, Ansah responded in a whirlwind fashion, firing left-right combinations to the head and body of Sheriff who crush on the canvass, dazed.
It was followed by a wild jubilation as fans carried their hero out of the arena and stormed the township.
The event, put together by Box Office Promotions, also saw Ghana’s Abraham Tabul avenge an earlier loss to American fighter, Patrick Ferguson to win the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) Africa cruiserweight title.
Former IBF welterweight champion Joshua ‘Hitter’ Clottey had his comeback win overshadowed by the announcement of his retirement from boxing.
Clottey gained a sixth round Technical Knockout (TKO) victory over Tanzanian challenger, Mfaume Mfaume in a super middleweight contest.
In other bouts, Anthony De Bruyin knocked out Joshua Owusu in the second round of their six round super welterweight contest while Hasibullah Ahmadi kayoed Saidu Amadu 2:09 seconds in the first round of their four round featherweight contest.
Abikhaiyr Shegaliyev from Kyrgyzstan handed Benjamin Tetteh a round one stoppage in their six round super welterweight contest.
Fellow Kyrgyz Sapabay Aidarov also proved a tough customer for Stephen Okine who suffered a second round knockout in their six-round middleweight contest.
Larry Abarra defeated Albert Commey of their six-round super bantamweight contest; Isaac Sackey earned a seventh round win over Edward Kambasi, Maxwell Awuku stopped Togolese challenger, Moubi Sarouna in the 6th round of their super featherweight contest.
In the only female bout of the evening, Armenian Anahit Aroyan earned a Unanimous Decision to triumph over Taiye Kodjo in their four-round super featherweight contest.
BY NANA BENTSI ODURO
