It was the highlight of the second fight night of the Ghana Professional Boxing League, which came off at the Bukom Boxing Arena in Accra last Saturday, comprising professional, amateur and juvenile fights.

The 28-year-old officer of the Ghana Prisons Service, who won the title in October last year, dug deep to forestall the late charge of his opponent to win on all three score cards. The judges scored it 110-117, 110-116 and 108-118 in Lawson’s favour.

The former Black Bomber fought patiently with superior ring craft which exposed his opponent and appeared not in a hurry to secure a knockout against his opponent who displayed a big heart to survive 12 rounds of action, as well as a knock down.

In the fourth round Sossiya unleashed some combinations of his and attempted to cut through the guarded face of his opponent but Lawson fought back with a left overhand punch to his brow.

Sossiya came back in the fifth with a right swing to the temple of Lawson that jostled him and wobbled his feet.

However after the bell, Lawson came back with ferocious punches that worked the body of his opponent and pushed him back.

The two exchanged fiercely in the eighth and ninth rounds, with Sossiya dropping his opponent to the canvas in the ninth round before the champion took charge of affairs in the championship rounds.

The Bukom-based Lawson was decorated with the title belt by the GBA President, Abraham Kotei Neequaye, supported by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Odododiodoo, Nii Lante Vanderpuye; and former GBA President, Peter Zwennes.

Lawson was also declared the best professional boxer of the night and won a 32-inch TCL television set presented by the Head of Operations of TCL Ghana, Anita Ashong.

The night began with a super lightweight clash between Benjamin Tetteh and Joshua Barnor which ended in a draw, followed by a fifth round technical knockout victory by Stephen Abbey over Kwame Kumakuwe in a six-round cruiserweight contest to the delight of the packed arena.

Elvis Ahorgah stopped Hamed Mohammed via a technical knockout in their six-round super middle weight clash, while journeyman Daniel Oduro could not go beyond the first round after being dropped by Alidu Suleman in the opening round of their encounter.

On a night of knockouts, John Quaye stopped Nje Saotu in the second round of their super featherweight clash.

There were other exciting juvenile and amateur fights which were each declared draws to encourage the young boxers.

Former boxers Braimah Kamoko, known in boxing circles as Bukom Banku, also lighted up the arena when he mounted the ring to serenade the excited crowd with some musical performances just as upcoming diva AJ Songstress.