British-Ghanaian boxer, Joshua Buatsi has been in Ghana on a visit to his motherland touring boxing gymnasiums in Accra. Upon observations made in the various boxing clubs, he sought to educate boxing stakeholders about safety.
The boxer with a fight record of 16-0 and Olympic bronze medalist visited five boxing clubs on Tuesday. These visited clubs are Attoh Quarshie Boxing Club, Sea View Boxing Club, Black Panther Boxing club, Akotoku Academy and Wisdom Boxing Gym.
Yesterday, Thursday the 9th of June he held a forum inside the Will Power Gym where boxers, media and coaches from clubs in the area attended. The goal of the meeting was to present the findings collected from his tour as well as offer advise on the best modus operadi to make boxing in Ghana safe.
During the gym visit, the aspiring world champion made some observations about boxing in Ghana.
He noted that he observed issues such as the absence of gums during sparring sessions, use of 10oz gloves instead of 16 or 18oz and disregard for the use of heard gear.
The professional boxer advised clubs to let boxers especially the juveniles to always have protective gear especially heard gear and gumshield when they are training.
He also advised boxers to use big gloves (16oz ) during training to reduce injury in training.
The forum also allowed members of the audience to ask questions of which the questions were answered by the WBA international light heavy champion. The program was coordinated by the Greater Accra Boxing Association (GABA). The forum was followed by a meeting with the Ghana Boxing Authority.
Joshua during his presentation explained that he is like each of them, and that the difference between them and him is grace and opportunity. He further advised the boxers to be hardworking, consistent in training, pray for favor and listen to their coaches as this will take them far.