Boxers advised to show respect to each other, especially seniors
Ace Sports Journalist Sammy Heywood Okine has advised boxers to show respect to their colleagues and use decent language when challenging each other or selling their bouts.
In an exclusive chat with the three times best boxing writer of the year and boxing media personality he said boxers often use hard and harsh words against opponents and colleagues but it can be done in a fine and disciplined manner.
He recalled how some boxers have been disrespectful to world champions and senior boxers.
According to Sammy Heywood, respect is reciprocal and boxers who show respect would be respected while those who are arrogant and insulting would face the consequences of their behaviour
The former communications director of the Ghana Olympic Committee (GOC) and Ghana Boxing Authority (GBA) said how boxers communicate may offend some people so he called on their coaches and managers to call them to order and train them on how to behave and talk in public. especially on social media.
He said boxing is a big business that can contribute to tourism so the operators must be supported and protected to raise more funds.
He added that boxing is the sporting discipline that has projected Ghana at the Olympic Games and other international sports tournaments.
“Our boxers are special so we must protect them from social offences and vices” he expressed
He also tasked the Ghana Boxing Authority and Ghana Boxing Federation to come out with their ratings for boxers to know where they stand or are ranked to avoid unnecessary challenges.
Sammy Heywood Okine is associate editor at boxinghana.com and presenter/producer of The Big Fight Night on Omashi TV. He is also a former deputy secretary general of the Sports Writers Association of Ghana (SWAG).
By Wendy Naa Deide Sampah