President of the Ghana Boxing Federation (GBF), Bernard Quartey, has highlighted the positive impact of UK-based Ghanaian boxer Seth Gyimah, also known as Freezy Macbones, on the national amateur boxing team.
Freezy Macbones is one of the 13 amateur boxers representing Ghana, collectively known as the Black Bombers, aiming to secure spots at the 2024 Olympic Games qualifiers in Dakar, Senegal.
Despite transitioning to professional boxing, Freezy Macbones was still eligible to join Ghana’s team, thanks to new regulations in the sport.
In an exclusive interview with GhanaWeb, President Quartey emphasised how quickly Freezy Macbones adapted to Ghana’s traditional boxing style.
He noted that the light-heavyweight boxer has significantly increased the team’s competitiveness, as none of the other boxers want to risk losing their place on the team.
“He has brought competition to the team. You, the local boxer, now know that it is not on the silver platter, because if you say you are the local champion, someone from outside will come and unseat you,” Bernard Quartey told GhanaWeb.
The GBF president noted that his federation has been monitoring the progress of the boxer for a while now and was excited to know that Freezy Macbones wanted to etch his name in history as an Olympic boxer.
“If you can recall, in his last fight, he made it clear to the world that he has a dream to become an Olympic medalist. So as a leader, we’ve been monitoring him. The Olympics allow professional boxers with minute fights to participate,” he stated.
Adding, “So we spoke to him and did a lot of work to convince him and his management and we have him here to train with our local boxers. He has been in the UK for a very long time, and our style of boxing is different.
“Every local boxer wants to associate himself with the local boxers because we need to share ideas to uplift and grow in knowledge,” he said.
The 2024 Olympic Games qualifiers are expected to start on September 9, 2023.