Trudy Manteaw, an elite boxer training at the Attoh Quarshie Gym has called on Officials to give female boxers in Ghana more opportunities.
Lance Corporal Trudy Manteaw trains with the Attoh Quarshie Gym in Accra.
The veteran sports woman started boxing in 2010 when she was challenged by some boxers to prove she is strong.
In her own words; “I used to sit at Bafana Bafana (Youth Community vicinity in Jamestown) with the likes of Joshua Clottey, Akotwa and others. They challenged me to show my strength, entering the boxing ring for a match contest. This is what brought me to Attoh Quarshie Gym.”
“I first started the sport by observing and later I was taught the moves, and now I can fight,” said Trudy.
Trudy has fought several times and has 9 medals to her credit, non of these are international medals. Currently, IBA is hosting a Women’s World Championship tournament and team Ghana was expected to send its female elite team who have been preparing for months to a year now. However, this did not happen. According to the Federation leaders, it is because there’s no enough funds.
Trudy has been nominated for this year’s Women In Sports Awards (WISA) for her commitment to boxing. She expressed her joy about the increasing number of ladies learning boxing. However, she wishes more is done for more ladies to join.
Female boxers were featured in the GBF Independence Day bout. However, even though their male counterparts received verdicts after their fights (Win/Lost), all the female bouts were declared draw. Officials have said it is a way to encourage the ladies, nevertheless, the action has not aged well.
Currently, there are nearly 40 females learning boxing in clubs in Ghana.
At the Last commonwealth Games Ghana was represented by Ornella. Many critiqued the matter of selection other club managers felt their female boxers could have represented Ghana better.
The call for competition will pave new paths resulting in our Ghana having its first female national champion.
The 2022 edition of the Greater Accra Boxing Youth and Elite tournament proved that female fighters can handle results as competition was introduced, however on the national level female fighters continue to do only exhibitions
The 2022 Girls Box event featured 28 boxers, an improvement of over 100% following the participation of 15 girls in the previous edition.
As we celebrate women’s month, girls in Ghana deserve to know their strengths, gain experience in competitions, know their results and have equal opportunity to represent Ghana in international games.