Ghana’s National Boxing Team, the Black Bombers, have rounded off their final preparations for the Commonwealth Games in Belfast, Ireland, after taking part in a multi-nation training camp alongside some of the finest amateur boxers in the Commonwealth and beyond.
The camp forms the final phase of the team’s build-up to Glasgow, where boxing remains one of Ghana’s most consistent sources of medals at major international competitions.
Boxing has long been a dependable pillar of Ghana’s medal ambitions on the global stage, and the team travelled to Belfast with a clear objective, to sharpen against elite opposition before the Games get under way.
Head coach Ofori Asare described the opportunity to train alongside the region’s best fighters as invaluable, both for Glasgow and for the longer road toward the Olympics.
You are seeing the same boxers here who will continue campaigning for the Olympics. We’ve trained hard, and I believe in the preparation of my boxers.” Ofori Asare · Head Coach, Black Bombers
Coach Asare said the calibre of sparring partners assembled in Belfast drawn from across and beyond the Commonwealth had already produced encouraging signs from his squad’s preparation, reinforcing his confidence heading into the competition.
Among the boxers featured at the camp was lightweight Ebenezer Ankrah, competing in the 60kg division, who said he is in good condition heading into the games.
I’m feeling very good, and I’m well prepared for the tournament,” Ankrah said, before pointing to the marked improvement in the team’s preparations compared with four years ago. “We’ve prepared very well this time around. We made sure we made Ghana proud. At the last Commonwealth Games we won two silver and one bronze, but this time around we’re going to win gold.”
Also on parade in Belfast was Nancy Bamfo, who competes in the women’s 54kg featherweight division and doubles as a member of the Ghana Armed Forces.
For Bamfo, the Games carry a significance that extends beyond her own ambitions.
“I’m a soldier, so participating in this competition is an opening up for women. I’m standing in for Ghana, and I’m standing in for the Ghana Armed Forces it means a lot to me.”
Nancy Bamfo · 54kg Featherweight
Bamfo said the squad left Belfast in a settled and confident frame of mind, with the training camp having given the team the sharpening it needed. “We are all confident, we are all comfortable, and we are all ready. We are all ready to make it to the top,” she said.