The Rise of Freezy Macbones: From Homeless to WBO Champion
On October 1st, Seth Gyimah, widely known in boxing as Freezy Macbones defeated Nigerian boxer Godday ‘Zodsolo’ Appah to become the WBO Africa Light Heavyweight Champion in just 14 fights as a professional boxer.
But Macbones’ rise to prominence in boxing has not always been rosy.
His story starts in a lowly suburb of the Ashanti Region, where he began life with farmer parents along with 10 sisters.
Freezy had to resort to menial, low-paying construction jobs to get by as his parent’s income could not fully support the whole family.
At 22 years, he took the bold step of travelling to the UK with the goal of joining the army.
A goal which did not come to fruition and pushed him towards another set of menial jobs, including being a kitchen porter and later a chef.
At one stage of his stay in the UK, Macbones was left stranded without a home and was forced to sleep outdoors on the streets of London.
In a sport where many athletes begin training as early as six years old, Seth Gyimah joined a boxing gym at 27 with the ambition of becoming a boxer.
That amounts to 27 years of lacking basic boxing skills such as a strong jab, head movement, footwork, and fight IQ.
Any rightfully so, his ambitions were met with doubt by trainers and teammates.
Macbones had developed a solid physique thanks to his construction job, which built his dense muscles, yet physical build alone doesn’t make a good boxer.
After a stint in the UK amateur boxing scene, Macbones caught the attention of Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions and signed with them, making his professional debut in March 2023 by knocking out Christopher Wood in the second round.
His fighting style, similar to that of former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, earned him the nickname ‘British Mike Tyson’.
He gained internet stardom after an emotion post fight interview reflecting on his journey from tough times in Ghana.
After one more win in the UK, Macbones decided to build his boxing career by fighting on the Ghanaian circuit.
Macbones has since carried the energy and popularity from his UK tenure upon his arrival and is considered among the country’s most exciting boxers.
Perhaps he is best known for his fight against Jonathan Teth (aka Worldwide) for the WBA Africa Light Heavyweight, which many believed to be the 2025 fight of the year.
In that fight, Macbones tasted his first professional defeat after all three judges scored the fight in favour of Tetteh.
After bouncing back with a win over Jamiu Animashaun in April, Macbones faced his biggest challenge yet against Godday Appah.
Freezy defeated Appah by majority decision (95-93, 95-93, 94-94) in enemy territory to claim the first title of his career.
The story is still being written for Macbones, with several fights still on the horizon.
But for now, he can take some time to smell the roses on a career many can only envy and despite starting late in boxing, he has shown that age is just a number when you have grit and determination.