Ashie earned a deserved victory to clinch the IBF Inter-Continental super lightweight title on the main event of the ‘Rumble to Freedom’ bill by Box Office Sports Promotions, a power punch to the body send Quaye to the canvas in the eighth round but his corner protested referee Roger Barnor’s decision to reward Ashie a knockdown for what looked a low blow.

However, the referee stood his ground and affected the mandatory count, with ringside TV replays proving it was a legitimate punch from Ashie’s right hand.

An angry Quaye kept complaining after the count giving Ashie the space to land flurry of punches which dazed him. As he wobbled and struggled to fight back, Ashie took charge and battered his opponent with no less than 10 unanswered power punches which flattened defenceless Quaye and send him to sleep.

Rematch

Even in the face of a decisive victory by Ashie, his opponent's corner still cired foul and demanded another opportunity to exact revenge.

“We will be ready for a rematch because we didn’t lose fairly,” livid Adama Addy, a renowned trainer of Quaye, told the Daily Graphic.

“Ashie kept landing low blows but he [referee] refused to deduct him point after several warnings. We didn’t lose this fight from where I was sitting,” he said.

Referee Barnor, in response, described Quaye’s corner as looking for an excuse for their defeat.

“Ashie landed a legitimate body shot and he [Quaye] went down so I did my job by counting and that wasn’t cheating.

“You can see that I kept warning each one of them whenever they landed an inappropriate punch, so I didn’t favour anybody,” the referee said.

A confident Quaye made a spectacular entry into the arena riding on the back of a horse with R-Kelly’s ‘The World’s Greatest’ song blaring in the background amid loud cheers by his supporters when he finally mounted the ring, whereas Ashie was less flamboyant as the former WBO

Africa lightweight champion entered the arena riding on the shoulder of one of his corner men in an atmosphere charged by the popular reggae song ‘Who the Cap Fits’ by Bob Marley.

Explosive fight

The fight came alive in the third round as Quaye was troubled by a number of big shots by his opponent which opened a cut above his left eyelid, forcing him to clinch till the end of the round.

Quaye recovered well in round four to land clean left hooks to the jaw of Ashie who responded in equal measure, as both fighters traded punches.

Ashie went straight at Quaye in the fifth round with powerful body shots from his left hand but his opponent looked unperturbed. In the latter stages of the round, Ashie walked into a left hook by Quaye and wobbled to the ropes but managed to avoid a knockdown.

The next two rounds were less eventful until the eighth round where Ashie seized his moment when it mattered most. Quaye first landed combination punches which Ashie responded in equal measure and caught his opponent a body shot which sent him crashing to the canvas amid protests by Quaye's corner men who stormed the ring to challenge the referee's decision.

Other bouts

On the undercard, undefeated WBO Africa featherweight champion, John Laryea stopped George Krampah in two rounds of their contest.
Super lightweight Faisal Abubakar earned a first round knockout over Emmanuel Aryee while prospect Daniel Gosh finished off Johnathan Pappoe in three rounds in their bantamweight contest.

Moses Adjei Selvi forced Alfred Quaye to quit in four rounds during a super bantamweight contest while southpaw Michael Abban cruised to a unanimous decision win over Isaac Quaye at flyweight.

Nigeria’s Oto Joseph won the ABU lightweight title with an eighth round TKO victory over Tackie Annan of Ghana with Enoch Tettey Tetteh triumphing over Edward Kambassi in one round of their bantamweight contest.