[ 2011-06-27 ]

Banku vs. Meroro sell out disappointing night for boxing fans
The much expected tough bout between Ghana’s
Braimah “Bukom Banku” Kamoko and Namibian
opponent Vikapito Meroro sent fans home rather
disappointed.

Each of the 12 rounds was characterised by an
unexciting and unattractive boxing.

Meroro was believed to be a credible opponent for
the tough talking Ghanaian boxer following his
track records of being a former World Boxing
Organisation Inter-Continental Light Heavyweight
champion.

Meroro, who was supposed to have a mandatory
defence of his title failed to do so and was
stripped of the title giving fans enough
conviction to anticipate a grueling bout.

It rather turned out to be the opposite and for
many, the final unanimous decision of 118-109,
116-110 and 115-113, for Kamoko was not a fair
decision since the Namibian did not throw a punch
to merit a score.

The records of the Namibian turned out to be
nothing to write home about as he resorted to
clinching throughout the entire 12 rounds possibly
to avoid a damaging punch from the Ghanaian.

Throughout the 12 rounds, Meroro took advantage of
the slightest opportunity to clinch, pushing, with
attempted head butts and illegal punches and got
his points deducted in the very first round by
referee Roger Barnor.

So consistent were his clinches that, “Bukom
Banku” found it difficult to deliver accurate
punches on the face, and efforts to land punches
on the ribs and the tummy were equally frustrated
by the Namibian.

One would have thought the clinches by the
Namibian were a calculated attempt to knock out
the Ghanaian but it rather ended up as a
self-defence strategy to avoid humiliation.

Kamoko at a point had to yell at the Namibian and
signal him to fight instead of clinching and
resorting to illegal moves in the ring.

Boxing fans who had filled the Accra International
Conference Centre to watch the thriller were at
the end of the 12 rounds disappointed, jeered at
the Namibian off the ring as the three judges
scored a unanimous decision for the Ghanaian.

In another international bout, Emmanuel Tagoe also
scored unanimous points of 118-110, 120-109, and
120-110 over Chilean opponent, Oscar Bravo in the
International Boxing Federation (IBF)
Inter-Continental Super Featherweight title
fight.

Joshua Okine’s opponent Sidhulele Sidzumo from
South Africa was disqualified in the 7th round for
hitting below the belt four times.

Okine, known as “Bukom Tsatsu” could not
continue the fight after the fourth illegal punch
and was handed the IBF International Continental
Welterweight title.

Source - GNA

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