Ghana’s Emmanuel ‘Game Boy’ Tagoe is the new IBO Lightweight champion of the world following a dominant victory over former world champion, Mzonke Fana at the Bukom Boxing Arena in Accra in the early hours of Saturday.
Determined to realize the childhood dream of wearing a world championship belt, Tagoe wasted no time in taking the fight to his opponent, amid flooring Fana twice in the very first round to underline his intentions straight from the sound of the bell.
The dominance continued but Fana, a former 2-time IBF Junior Lightweight champion of the world and a veteran of 48 career fights spanning over two decades, refused to be cowered into submission and battled on all night long.
He couldn’t escape the effects of the punishments at the hands of Tagoe though and Fana collapsed right at the sound of the bell at the end of round twelve. Ringside doctors had to get down to work on him, revived him and quickly put him on an ambulance straight to hospital even before the verdict was read out.
In the end, it was the easiest of victories for 29 year old Tagoe, 120-106, 120-107, 120-106 he won on the three scorecards to annex the IBO Lightweight title.
“I am very delighted that I’ve finally achieved the dream of becoming a world champion and I thank God and my BabyJet Promotions team led by my manager, Asamoah Gyan for all their support,” an elated Tagoe said right in the ring post-fight.
“I wanted to knock him out in round 3 as demanded by President Mahama and Sports Minister, Hon. Nii Nortey Duah. As everyone here saw I gave my all and dominated this fight and in the end I got the most important thing, victory and the world title.
He added: “My next focus is to fight the top boxers in the WBA ratings where I’m already number 7, my team are speaking to the WBC too. I hope to add those titles to my vast collection and win more world titles.”
