There is growing unease in Ghana’s professional boxing fraternity after key stakeholders issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Ghana Boxing Interim Management Committee (GBIMC), demanding clarity on a roadmap to elections for new leaders of the Ghana Boxing Authority (GBA).

The Committee for Professional Boxing Stakeholders (CPBS), an umbrella body representing major interest groups in the sport, has given the GBIMC until tomorrow (January 23) to publicly outline plans for an elective congress. Failure to do so, the group warned, would leave them with no option but to “advise ourselves”.

Major stakeholders

The petition was signed by a powerful coalition of boxing figures, including Moshud Zaid (Acting Chairman of CPBS and President of the Boxing Managers Association of Ghana), Charles Quartey (President, United Boxing Coaches Association of Ghana), Alex Ntiamoah-Boakye (President, Boxing Promoters Association of Ghana), Ayitey Powers (President, Boxers Association of Ghana – Voice of Professional Boxers), Abdul-Rasheed Williams (President, Boxing Matchmakers/Agents Association of Ghana), Erasmus Dowuona Owoo (Vice-President, Boxing Ring Officials Association of Ghana) and Percy Commey (Acting President, Veteran Boxers Association of Ghana).

The GBIMC, chaired by veteran promoter and administrator Samir Captan, with boxing legend Azumah Nelson as vice-chairman, was inaugurated by Sports Minister Kofi Iddie Adams on September 29 last year.

Its formation followed the dissolution of the GBA board by the NSA and a temporary suspension of all professional boxing activities in Ghana.

That drastic intervention came in the wake of the death of boxer Ernest “Bahubali” Akushey, who passed away less than two weeks after suffering a brutal stoppage defeat to Jacob Dickson at the Bukom Boxing Arena. Akushey’s death was the second fight-related fatality within six months, following the collapse in the ring and subsequent death of Nigerian boxer Gabriel Oluwasegun Olarenwaju at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital on March 29, 2025.

A seven-member Ministerial Committee of Inquiry was later established to investigate the incidents and make recommendations.

Against that backdrop, the GBIMC was tasked with cleansing the sport by instituting urgent medical and safety reforms, while also steering the GBA towards fresh elections within its initial three-month mandate, which expired on December 29, 2025, subject to a one-month extension.

Lack of clarity

While acknowledging that the committee duly applied for and was granted the extension set to elapse on January 29, the CPBS said it was alarmed that there was still no concrete information on the election process.

“Kudos to your efforts with the medical and safety reforms, which have effectively enabled the lifting of the suspension of professional boxing activities in Ghana, among others,” the letter stated.

However, it added pointedly: “It being an important stake, we expect the GBIMC to have come out with an election sub-committee necessary to prepare the grounds for an elective congress, while your work on other roles stayed within the timelines of your mandate.”