As competition intensifies at the Bukom Boxing Arena, one of the most compelling grassroots stories at the National Individual Boxing Championship comes from Tamale in the Northern Region, where PowerSteps Boxing Academy is emerging as a symbol of boxing’s growing reach beyond Ghana’s traditional coastal strongholds.
Founded in July 2024, PowerSteps Boxing Academy is a community-based youth development initiative that uses boxing as a culturally accepted and structured entry point to engage young people aged 12 to 25 from vulnerable social and economic backgrounds. While still in its formative stage, the academy’s participation in the national championship underscores its steady progress and growing confidence.
Speaking on the project’s vision, Jeanette Breus Moller, Founder of StepUpDK – Love and Hope (LAH), described PowerSteps as more than a boxing programme.
“PowerSteps was created to give young people a safe and disciplined space to build confidence, responsibility, and hope. Boxing is the tool, but the goal is character, direction, and opportunity.”
StepUpDK – Love and Hope (LAH) is a Danish charitable organisation operating in Ghana, with PowerSteps Boxing Academy established as one of its flagship projects in the Northern Region, Tamale.
The academy is managed locally by Douglas Baiden, who serves as General Manager and Project Coordinator for StepUpDK – Love and Hope (LAH). Under his coordination, PowerSteps operates with a licensed manager and licensed trainer and is registered under the Northern Sector Boxing Association.
Training at PowerSteps combines strength and endurance work, footwork and agility drills, pad work and controlled sparring, cardio conditioning, and mental resilience training. Despite operating with modest resources, sessions are deliberately structured to promote self-control, consistency, and discipline.
Mentorship remains central to the programme’s philosophy. Older participants support younger boxers as peer mentors, reinforcing leadership, responsibility, and continuity.
Group-based sessions also address life skills, cooperation, and future planning, connecting lessons learned in the ring to school, work, family life, and community responsibilities.
PowerSteps currently has a total membership of 17 boxers. Earlier this year, the academy recorded a significant milestone when two of its athletes won gold and silver medals at a regional championship in Bolgatanga, Upper East Region. For the ongoing national championship in Accra, the academy has presented four boxers:
Gabriel Kojo Azanlor Azugu (65kg)
Shahad Osman (55kg)
Umar Yussif (53kg)
Amjad Abdul-Razak (64kg).
Their participation also reflects the broader boxing heritage of northern Ghana a region known for producing disciplined, resilient athletes shaped by strong community values and mental toughness. While Bukom and Jamestown remain iconic boxing centres, initiatives like PowerSteps are helping to ensure that Ghana’s amateur boxing future is nationally representative.
Fully integrated into the StepUpDK ecosystem, PowerSteps Boxing Academy continues to function as a bridge using sport, mentorship, and structure to guide young people toward constructive and responsible futures, while steadily writing the Northern Region’s next chapter in Ghana’s boxing history.