Prime Take with Carl Lokko: Boxing trainer shares 27 years journey in boxing | AM Sports (3-11-23)
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NewsTranscript
00:00 (laughing)
00:02 - Nice one.
00:03 - I told you.
00:03 (laughing)
00:06 - Agree?
00:08 - Hey, don't do it harder, you want to give me.
00:09 (laughing)
00:11 How are you, Carl?
00:12 - I'm fine.
00:13 - It's been a long time.
00:14 - Yeah, long, long time.
00:14 - How is everything?
00:15 - By the grace, everything is fine.
00:16 - I can see some massive changes in this gym.
00:19 - Yeah, I mean, when you put in good effort,
00:21 you get these kind of rewards.
00:23 - Wow, wow, I see that.
00:24 So, who got this done for you?
00:27 Through the investment you've done in boxing,
00:30 you decided that you're going to build this
00:31 special edifice.
00:32 - I mean, yeah, I have to be open and honest,
00:36 to thank whoever have helped the Bronze Gym
00:38 to get to this level, in the name of Mr. Easy.
00:41 - Okay.
00:42 - Yeah, I don't know him from anywhere.
00:44 I don't have any contact with him.
00:46 I just got information that they want to support
00:50 the Bronze Gym, to do refurbishment for us,
00:53 and it was a surprise or a dream.
00:58 And yes, it has happened.
01:00 So I give thanks to them.
01:01 - I was here some seven years ago,
01:04 and I realized that there were some wooden structures
01:08 and all that, but all of a sudden,
01:09 it's a perfect, perfect edifice.
01:11 - Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean, the gym is now
01:14 one of the top gyms in Ghana.
01:16 - Okay.
01:17 - In terms of the facility, not that enough,
01:20 but yeah, we are proud to have this kind of facility.
01:25 - Yeah, in fact, this place alone is enough
01:27 to motivate you to want to give up your all.
01:29 - Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know when we were not
01:31 having this level, we were not at this level,
01:34 we were still pushing.
01:35 I'm always trying to push and make sure
01:38 I do something out of the small that I have,
01:40 because I believe in that, and definitely
01:43 we'll get to where you want to be.
01:45 - Now tell me, where were you born?
01:47 What is your genesis like?
01:49 What is your childhood story?
01:50 - Do I have even something serious
01:53 to talk about my childhood?
01:55 (laughing)
01:56 Yeah, I mean, yeah, Kaloko was born in Jamestown.
02:01 - Oh, yeah, Jamestown, no wonder you're from
02:03 the factory for the production of boxes.
02:05 (laughing)
02:06 - Yeah, I was born in Jamestown, to the Raymond Loko,
02:11 that was the parents, Raymond Loko and Elizabeth Lathi.
02:18 Yeah, since I was born, I've been close to my family,
02:23 like my mom and my dad was living together.
02:26 I was not someone that, yes, I was born in Jamestown,
02:30 so it's like my father is somewhere,
02:32 my mother is somewhere, so Jamestown that I be.
02:35 You understand?
02:36 - I see.
02:37 - Yeah, so I have the privilege to have the mother
02:41 and the father kind of guidance and support,
02:44 so yeah, I came out good, I believe I always thank them
02:49 the way they brought me up.
02:52 What they can do is what they did,
02:53 and I also have to continue from there.
02:56 - How would you describe the childhood?
02:57 Was it a difficult beginning for you,
03:01 or life was so easy because you grew up with your parents
03:04 and maybe they had some good money to take care of you?
03:07 Was there money at home?
03:09 - No, I will not say that, but they were doing their best,
03:12 and from what they have been doing,
03:14 I also have to follow and learn or help, you understand?
03:19 When I was coming up, I got to the stage
03:22 that I have to go through whatever the parents
03:26 that are somehow struggling a little bit
03:29 to take care of their family have to go through.
03:32 Today will be the first time that I will make this open
03:35 that I have sold ice water before,
03:39 I have sold polythene bag, like, boot flutes,
03:43 like, I have done a lot, you understand?
03:46 Just to support the house, not that I have been left out,
03:50 that I'm doing that to survive, no.
03:53 My parents or my mother especially
03:55 will put that boot flute on my head,
03:58 and I have to go to the market and come back
04:01 and account for whatever I was sent to, yeah?
04:06 The same to the ice water, like, I have done a lot,
04:08 under no pressure, but through the parents,
04:12 and at least that also have helped me
04:15 or have pushed me to certain level.
04:17 - Why were you selling the pair of water, the boot flute,
04:18 and which market?
04:21 - At the beach side.
04:22 - Oh, the beach side?
04:23 - Yeah, at the beach side. - Oh, I see, I see, I see.
04:26 - Yeah, when it comes to the polythene bag,
04:28 was a slag market.
04:30 - Oh, okay.
04:30 - You understand, yeah.
04:31 And maybe my grandmother used to,
04:35 this abolo, I don't know how to call it,
04:40 the one from the oven.
04:41 - Okay, okay.
04:42 - Not the one we cook.
04:43 - Okay, okay, okay, okay.
04:44 - I have to carry that and follow my grandmother
04:47 to go around and sell it at his joints
04:49 or the houses that she have been going there to sell.
04:52 - Oh, okay.
04:53 - Yeah, so I have passed through all this,
04:56 so I think I have got to see
05:00 how people make end living,
05:02 especially from their childhood.
05:04 That is why I'm saying that I'm very happy
05:06 to have those parents,
05:07 because I was not under any pressure to do that,
05:11 but I am somebody that, from my childhood,
05:14 I'm ready to listen and to learn
05:17 and to do whatever you ask me to do,
05:19 and that has brought me to where I am today.
05:21 - Were your friends making fun of you
05:22 for selling boot flute and polythene bags and sachet water?
05:25 (both laughing)
05:26 Did they make fun of you?
05:26 - I mean, definitely, you know,
05:28 sometimes that kind of things, you face it,
05:30 but when you know where you are coming from,
05:33 you will not even mind them,
05:35 but you keep on doing it.
05:37 Sometimes the same person,
05:39 they'll be running to, for me to support them.
05:41 - Okay. - You understand me?
05:42 Because they don't know that,
05:43 the more I've been going out there
05:45 doing this kind of selling and whatever,
05:47 all the time, my pocket will also be nice.
05:50 So when they come, at least I can buy something
05:52 that we all eat together.
05:53 - And you will hide it from your girlfriend, right?
05:56 - Ah, I'm not talking about the time
05:58 that I was even, I don't even know about,
06:01 talking about a woman or something like that.
06:03 - No, I'm just saying that maybe childhood,
06:04 you know, you see that small girl in your area,
06:06 you are shy of, so when you are carrying the boot flute,
06:09 you want to dodge.
06:09 (both laughing)
06:10 - Since you got to know me,
06:12 you can say it clear, or you know clear
06:14 that I'm not a shy person.
06:15 - Yeah. - You understand me?
06:16 - So is that your childhood?
06:17 - Yeah.
06:18 - Oh, wow.
06:19 - You understand me?
06:20 So I'm ready to do anything that you as a grownup,
06:23 or somebody who is above me, will tell me, do this.
06:26 Straight away, I believe in what you are telling me to do,
06:29 and I have to do it with every passion
06:30 or everything that I have.
06:32 - Wow. - Yeah.
06:33 - How were you ushered into boxing,
06:35 and why boxing, not any other thing?
06:36 - Yeah, like I said, because I was living with them,
06:40 all the time I'm busy.
06:43 If I said I'm busy, mom will give you some work to do,
06:48 and dad also give you some work to do.
06:50 So when you finish here, you have to go here.
06:52 When you finish there, you have to do this.
06:53 So I don't have time at all to even go
06:56 and mingle with my childhood friends.
06:59 Even when they are going to buy football,
07:02 you know, we normally contribute their time.
07:04 - Yes, yes, yes. - When they have to do something.
07:05 I'll bring a chunk of their money, but I will not be there.
07:08 - To play the ball? - To play the ball.
07:10 (laughs)
07:11 - Wow. - You understand?
07:12 So I've been seeing this kind of discipline,
07:15 like the ball, and the boxing.
07:18 That is the simple thing that you see
07:21 when you are from Jamestown.
07:23 - So do you play some basic football?
07:24 - Yeah, I mean, I did not that much,
07:27 but at school, I was a goalkeeper at school, right?
07:32 And I did a little bit of a munching
07:34 as a goalkeeper as well.
07:36 You understand?
07:37 Aha, so in sports, in football,
07:40 that is a bit that I did over there.
07:43 So it got to a time then,
07:45 my interest started going into boxing.
07:48 Although I was not having time to go to even the gyms,
07:52 but once in a while, when I pass through any gym,
07:54 the way I see people doing the boxing,
07:55 sometimes you see them on the streets,
07:58 doing boxing on the street and stuff.
08:00 That also pushed the mind.
08:02 But at that time, I was not in control of myself,
08:05 so nothing I can do.
08:07 But it got to a time that I said,
08:10 no, I have to venture into boxing.
08:13 Straight away, my mind is to learn how to train boxes.
08:18 When I was very young.
08:21 - You didn't do the boxing yourself?
08:22 - No, no, no, no, no.
08:23 - You only wanted to coach?
08:25 - Yes.
08:25 I have never gone to a gym to learn standing,
08:29 even how to learn how to stand to be a boxer.
08:32 But I went straight to the gym,
08:34 and my focus and my intention is to become a trainer.
08:37 - One of the things that we offer here
08:42 is that, oh, because I have passion for boxing,
08:44 I'll try boxing some more.
08:46 But you went straight into wanting to be a trainer.
08:48 How did that happen?
08:49 - Yeah, yeah, because I wish I joined boxing
08:54 maybe at the age of eight, nine, 10.
09:00 You understand?
09:01 - Why?
09:02 - No, because I got a love for it.
09:05 But like I said, because I am with the parents, right?
09:09 That their eye on me.
09:11 I was not having a chance to go on my own way,
09:14 to go and whatever, like spend any time with my peers
09:18 and whatever, and I am somebody who,
09:22 I take instruction and take orders.
09:24 So when they say, "Sit here."
09:25 - You sit there.
09:26 - I sit there.
09:27 And they say, "When you close from school,
09:28 "make sure you get home by this time."
09:31 I make sure I'm home.
09:32 You understand?
09:33 So that fierce and that respect was there.
09:36 So I couldn't even get out to go and do-
09:38 - How many siblings do you have?
09:40 Or you are an only child?
09:41 - I know, how can I?
09:42 God will not do that.
09:43 (both laughing)
09:44 - So how many were you?
09:46 - Yeah, we were five.
09:48 - Five of you?
09:49 - Yeah, we were five, yeah.
09:49 - Are you the first?
09:50 - Yeah, I'm the first.
09:51 - No wonder.
09:52 (both laughing)
09:53 - Yeah, so you understand now,
09:54 because the kind of nurturing I was getting,
09:57 that is the way I got to know when I was growing up with that.
10:01 You understand?
10:02 So I have not been radical or rough boy during my childhood,
10:07 like being stubborn, you understand?
10:11 So it's like, that's why I said I was born in Jamestown,
10:14 but Jamestown, that I be.
10:18 That is the meaning of-
10:18 - But do you have the DNA of Jamestown?
10:20 - No, no, no.
10:21 - 'Cause people will tell you the DNA of Jamestown
10:22 is the (mimics gunfire)
10:22 - No, no, no.
10:23 - Street fighting and all that.
10:25 - I have it.
10:26 I have it.
10:27 - Were you a street fighter?
10:28 - No, no, no, it's not only being a street fighter,
10:30 alone make you a Jamestown boy.
10:33 And there is no way I'll stand anywhere to say that
10:35 I don't have it in me, because that is where I was born.
10:38 There are certain things,
10:40 it depend on where you pass through before you grow.
10:43 So there are certain things you will not just do.
10:45 You will not just venture into that.
10:47 You understand me?
10:48 But hey, when it comes to anything I thought to do,
10:51 yeah man.
10:51 - Come on.
10:52 - Move your-
10:53 (both laughing)
10:56 You understand, yeah.
10:57 So I'm always a Jamestown guy,
11:00 and I'm proud to be, and I'm part of them.
11:05 - So did you stop school before going to the boxing training
11:09 or how did it happen?
11:11 - No, I did not stop school before that.
11:16 Actually, after my GSS, I went to Emmet Electronics.
11:21 And you can see the name of the school I'm mentioning.
11:28 If you are not tough, you know it will be difficult
11:30 for you to mingle with them, right?
11:32 Yeah, so when it got to the time that I showed an interest,
11:36 I have to do it after school.
11:38 I have to go to the gym after school.
11:40 And lucky for me, if this is my house,
11:43 this is a boxing gym.
11:45 - Oh, okay, okay.
11:46 - You understand?
11:47 - Okay.
11:47 - In the name of the Black Panther's gym,
11:49 at the high street just here.
11:50 - Oh, okay, oh yeah, I know that.
11:51 - Yes, and you can see an old building
11:54 that have been pulled down or that got-
11:58 - Yeah, that's been destroyed.
11:59 - Yes, that is where I was born.
12:00 And just across, even not streets,
12:03 just close to it, that's the gym.
12:06 So it's so easy for me to go from the house to the gym
12:10 and give myself out to the head trainer over there,
12:15 may he still rest in peace.
12:17 He's gone now to let him know clear
12:20 that this is what I want to do.
12:22 - So you didn't go to secondary school?
12:25 - That's what I'm telling you that I went to-
12:26 - You said from GSS?
12:27 - From GSS to Emmitt Electronics.
12:29 - Was it a secondary school?
12:30 - Yes.
12:31 - Okay.
12:32 - I said secondary-
12:33 - Because you said electronics, I'm a bit confused.
12:34 - You don't know Emmitt Electronics?
12:35 - Are you an electrician?
12:37 - You don't know Emmitt Electronics?
12:39 - No, I'm hearing their school for the first time.
12:41 - You are hearing the name of Emmitt Electronics
12:42 for the first time?
12:43 - Yes.
12:44 - Wow, let's move on.
12:45 (laughing)
12:47 Let's move on.
12:48 - So what did you study in that school?
12:50 - I studied electronics in terms of, I mean, television.
12:55 - Oh, so you do electrical stuff?
12:58 - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
12:59 - Electrical, okay, okay.
13:01 So if my TV's poor, if you repair-
13:02 - No, no, no, I left-
13:03 - You formatted all of those things?
13:04 - I left those things a long time.
13:05 (laughing)
13:07 - You formatted all of those things?
13:07 - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
13:08 - You don't know what-
13:09 - I delete all, I delete all.
13:10 - Oh, why would you format it?
13:11 - And I put boxing in.
13:13 (laughing)
13:14 If I've been repairing those things,
13:17 would you be standing here today with me?
13:19 - Probably you would be the best electronic engineer
13:22 in the country.
13:23 - Have you interviewed any electronics specialists or-
13:26 - Because they are not in my area of interest.
13:27 - You have not, so please try.
13:29 (laughing)
13:31 Please try.
13:32 - Let's get back to the training bit.
13:34 Why you chose to train and not box?
13:37 - Yeah, like I said,
13:41 somebody whispered in my ears when I was young
13:44 that when you want to venture into boxing
13:48 or even football, it will be good for you to start early.
13:52 - Okay.
13:53 - You understand?
13:54 So it got to a time that when I even made my mind
13:57 willing to go to this coaching aspect,
14:01 my father and my mom was not, they were not even aware.
14:05 But when they start being aware,
14:07 I can see clear that they were not-
14:08 - Happy.
14:09 - They were not happy, you understand?
14:10 Because none of them pushed me into it.
14:12 I had this-
14:14 - By their own.
14:15 - Yeah, my own stuff.
14:16 And nobody told me if you become a coach, it will be good.
14:20 Or if you become a boxer, you'll be great.
14:22 No, I derived that thing from-
14:25 - You just did it on your own.
14:26 - Yeah, on my own, you understand?
14:27 So at that moment, that is what came to my mind,
14:31 that learn how to do that.
14:34 Because instead of my young age,
14:37 I tried to organize young, young ones
14:41 to do a football team.
14:43 Now we call it Munchendi, to get at them,
14:45 get them some food, some soak-ins and some kind of rice.
14:49 So I have a team, I've been doing a team,
14:51 like area team and stuff.
14:52 So more or less, it's like,
14:54 I was somebody who was always trying to get at people,
14:57 making sure, giving them life,
14:59 or making something out of whatever they can do.
15:01 You understand?
15:02 So it become like, more or less,
15:06 I start becoming a leader.
15:07 - Okay. - You understand me?
15:09 - Like a youth leader.
15:10 - Youth leader.
15:11 Because if I can organize those people
15:14 and put them in jerseys,
15:17 and put them on a pitch for them to play their football,
15:20 and after that, I have to give them something
15:23 in terms of money or in terms of food and whatever,
15:26 then more or less like somebody who get at people.
15:30 So that pushed the mind that same way,
15:34 if I want to venture into boxing,
15:36 I'll be happy to get at them,
15:38 to give them that kind of training.
15:40 So why don't I also go in and learn how to train boxers?
15:45 So this is...
15:46 - How long did you do the football thing?
15:48 Or was it just brief?
15:51 - It was not brief, I did it long.
15:53 Finally, I end up even doing
15:57 under 12 football team.
15:59 - Oh, really? - With my uncle.
16:01 The team name is Sabres Academy.
16:05 Sabres Academy was at Zabu Zongo, Aibetown.
16:09 We play alongside missionaries.
16:11 - Which year was this?
16:12 (laughing)
16:13 - Yeah?
16:14 - Which year was it?
16:15 Because I remember I was in Aibetown, Zabu Zongo.
16:17 That's where I grew up.
16:18 I spent a chance.
16:19 I attended Latavio Coaches around Radio Gold.
16:23 That's where I went to school.
16:24 So if I know the year,
16:25 probably I would have played against your team before.
16:27 - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
16:28 So yeah, that should be somewhere...
16:31 '98, '99?
16:34 - I was not there.
16:35 - Aibetown.
16:36 - That's how I was in the village.
16:37 In fact, I had a base at that time.
16:38 - Yeah, so we were doing the football aspect and stuff.
16:43 Even then, time, someone like Samuel Enimadu
16:46 was also following coach football.
16:48 And we used to mingle, we used to meet.
16:51 We meet even at complex, as you understand,
16:55 complex house.
16:56 Yes, that is where we do our meetings for the youth teams.
17:00 You understand?
17:00 So that should tell you how I've pushed.
17:04 And then nobody, like I said,
17:05 I have not even made this thing clear anywhere before
17:09 in terms of interview.
17:10 But I'm telling you that I venture into football
17:12 and I have done what I had to do there.
17:15 - So why did you leave the football and went into boxing?
17:17 Because people actually feel that football
17:19 is much more lucrative.
17:22 - Yeah, at the time I was doing it,
17:23 I was not doing it as a football coach, right?
17:27 More or less, I was a manager to the team.
17:30 Managing my uncle's team that we formed together.
17:34 We set a team up together.
17:36 My uncle was a former footballer,
17:37 but he went to base in Nigeria for a long time.
17:41 When he came back, he wanted to still play football,
17:44 but his age was far gone.
17:46 - So you had to do it with a kiss.
17:47 - You understand it.
17:48 So even my father took him to Gapua at that time.
17:51 Even took him to a class of football,
17:54 because he is good,
17:55 but the age was not in favor of him.
17:58 So they just...
18:00 - Had to let go.
18:01 - Yeah, so initiated that,
18:03 okay, then this is what I want to do.
18:05 So, okay, then let's do it,
18:06 because I have the passion for it.
18:08 And that is how.
18:09 - And then you dropped football and you went to boxing.
18:11 So how would you describe the boxing journey?
18:14 - The boxing journey,
18:15 I've not been that smooth from the beginning,
18:19 but I never stood back.
18:23 I never stopped whatever I was doing.
18:26 And I think I always say thank you to boxing.
18:31 - Boxing has taken you so far, right?
18:35 - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
18:36 I mean, boxing have done a lot.
18:38 Boxing have done a lot for me.
18:39 Sometimes it is not the cash aspect, you understand?
18:44 But even though boxing, I don't know I'll be here,
18:51 standing with you, like I said.
18:53 Through boxing, I've done a whole lot.
18:54 Like I've gone through a whole lot with the group,
18:59 just because of the boxing aspect.
19:01 So I believe that whatever you are doing,
19:04 if you do it and do it well,
19:05 definitely you'll be part of the names
19:07 that will be mentioned,
19:08 or the names that people will remember.
19:10 And I started following boxing,
19:13 or to become a boxer, a trainer,
19:16 when I was in the year 1996.
19:20 - Wow.
19:21 - That I venture into it.
19:22 And I've been in it from that time.
19:27 - That's 27 years now.
19:28 - So now, that I've not even take my eye off from boxing
19:32 for even a week.
19:32 - 27 years?
19:35 - Yes.
19:36 You understand?
19:37 So it's not today.
19:38 - Wow.
19:40 Who were your early boxers?
19:41 Which boxers did you start with?
19:42 Did you start training with?
19:43 (laughs)
19:44 - A lot of them that maybe,
19:45 maybe others, those who are watching,
19:48 I mean, will remember if they follow boxing.
19:50 But, started because I was under training.
19:55 So the boss said that I was part,
19:57 we were training them.
19:58 We have,
20:01 Osman Uyaya.
20:04 We have, Mark Doku.
20:06 We have, a lot of them.
20:08 We have Sarko Dier, Joseph Sarko Dier.
20:11 We have, Atajata, in the name of, yeah.
20:15 We have, Congo Soja.
20:18 Osman Akaba, a lot, a lot.
20:20 Then time, most of them now,
20:22 are willing, stop the game.
20:24 - I see.
20:25 - Yeah.
20:26 - Wow.
20:27 Wow.
20:27 You've got quite an interesting story there.
20:29 Trust me, I never actually knew
20:32 that you've been in the sport for 27 years.
20:34 - Yeah, yeah, not today.
20:35 - Wow.
20:36 - Not today at all.
20:36 - That's something massive.
20:37 But, talk to me,
20:38 within this journey,
20:42 you've spoken about the boxers you've started with,
20:44 but, you've also spoken about how far boxing has taken you.
20:48 But, which of the boxers have you worked with
20:51 that you've felt that love?
20:53 Working with these boxers,
20:54 or these boxers,
20:55 actually gave me, let's say, a lifetime opportunity.
20:58 - Yes, this is good.
21:00 Very, very good question you're asking me.
21:02 And sometimes, we have to be open and honest,
21:04 sometimes when it comes to this.
21:06 The boxer that I would say that,
21:08 through him,
21:09 I became known.
21:13 - You got attention, yeah.
21:13 - I got attention,
21:15 was Buko Ubangu, Graham Akamoku.
21:18 - Really?
21:18 - I was training Graham Akamoku,
21:20 and you know, he got the followers,
21:22 and he got his own thing.
21:24 - Okay.
21:25 - So, if you are following Graham Akamoku,
21:27 and I'm the trainer,
21:28 definitely you start knowing me.
21:31 - Oh, okay.
21:31 - Through his antics, or whatever I am doing.
21:35 And I know that aspect,
21:37 or that time I was training him,
21:39 got me there very, very fast.
21:42 - Wow.
21:43 - Yes.
21:44 - I also know that you've worked with the likes of
21:46 Richard Cormier, who you took to the,
21:48 what is the US, Ohio,
21:50 for a world title fight against Robert Easter Jr.
21:54 I remember that.
21:55 And I remember that time was 2016,
21:59 that I came here for us to have a conversation and order.
22:03 Talk to us about that journey,
22:06 of building up a boxer that had an opportunity
22:08 to win a fight for a world title.
22:11 - Yeah, it's another story all together.
22:14 I believe all the time I have to do something in boxing
22:17 that most of people have not done.
22:21 So, I put it to myself that
22:24 I will be happy to nurture a boxer
22:28 from amateur level to the world level,
22:31 and win a world title.
22:33 That was the dream.
22:34 - You discovered Cormier when he was still an amateur boxer?
22:38 - Um.
22:39 - Or he was already out in the limelight?
22:41 - We'll talk about that.
22:42 It's part of the dream and part of me.
22:45 So, we just put things aside and say the way it is.
22:48 Cormier was one of the footballers
22:52 we were having as service.
22:54 - Oh, okay.
22:55 - So, I know him when he was about 13 years.
22:58 - Really?
22:58 - Yes.
22:59 - Okay.
23:00 - I know him when he was about 13 years,
23:01 13 years, 13 years.
23:03 When they have been coming to me, like I said,
23:05 giving them money to buy some food,
23:09 going to training, they're making their food,
23:11 camping them for a football match.
23:13 So, that's also, I know him for a long time.
23:16 So, after the service,
23:17 he went out there to,
23:21 he graduated from the under 12.
23:23 - Okay.
23:23 - So, he went to under 14 and whatever,
23:26 which he couldn't continue over there.
23:29 And he ventured into kickboxing.
23:31 You understand?
23:33 - Yeah.
23:34 - Yes, so, that was the level he was.
23:36 He was not a boxer.
23:37 That, even everybody knew over here in Ghana, I know.
23:40 He was a kickboxer who have traveled to UAE
23:43 to do his kickboxing stuff.
23:45 So, he came back and it happens that
23:48 he wants to depart from the boxing.
23:50 - Oh, okay.
23:51 - So, he want me to take him on.
23:52 So, that is where I took him on.
23:54 Then I start training him as a boxer.
23:56 - Okay.
23:57 - Take him to amateur boxing a bit
24:00 before we venture into professional boxing.
24:02 - I remember you also won some titles with him.
24:04 - Yeah, yeah, a lot, a lot.
24:05 So, that's why I'm telling you that,
24:07 that became one of my targets.
24:09 That, what can you do for people to remember you
24:12 or to know the work you have done?
24:14 Normally, most of the boxers who become champions
24:18 have not been trained by one person.
24:20 - Okay.
24:21 - You start from somewhere,
24:22 somebody will come in.
24:23 - Somebody will take over.
24:24 - Somebody will take over.
24:25 - Okay.
24:26 - You understand?
24:26 Even abroad, especially in the US.
24:28 - Yeah.
24:29 - A lot of the boxers, most of them,
24:30 sometimes it's not who discovered them.
24:32 - They change coaches.
24:33 - You understand me?
24:34 To become a world champion
24:36 or to come at the top.
24:38 So, if I'm saying to myself that,
24:39 I'll be happy to see myself nurturing a boxer
24:43 from amateur level, professional level,
24:46 to win a national title,
24:48 and to win African title,
24:50 and win another African title,
24:51 and go in for a Commonwealth title,
24:54 and go in for Intercontinental IBF title,
24:57 and get a chance to get to the top,
25:01 have the world title shot.
25:03 And that was my target.
25:05 So, I was so, so happy.
25:08 And I was working very, very hard behind the boy,
25:12 and making sure that I have to achieve
25:15 whatever I have in plan.
25:17 - Then how?
25:17 - And I got the opportunity to,
25:20 and I got to the world level,
25:21 and we fought, and the fight was very, very interesting.
25:25 - It was a very tough fight.
25:26 - But hey, you go into somebody backyard,
25:29 and you think you have it so easy.
25:31 No.
25:32 So at least, the target I put on me,
25:34 got me to the world level,
25:36 to say that I have tested the world championship ring,
25:40 or share a ring with other champion trainers,
25:43 or good trainers over there.
25:45 And at least, although we did not win,
25:48 but it's part of it.
25:50 - So how would you describe that fight
25:51 against Robert Easter Jr.?
25:53 - I mean, that fight, they took advantage of the fight,
25:58 because it was his promoter, and his management,
26:02 that won the best beat.
26:04 So if they won the best beat against our promoter,
26:06 then that means we have to go there and fight.
26:09 The fight should not be a lose for us, at all.
26:13 The fight should not be a lose for us, at all.
26:16 - You felt you shouldn't have lost that fight?
26:18 - No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
26:19 I mean, we shouldn't have lost that fight.
26:21 But, that is the verdict that the judges brought out.
26:27 - So how disappointing was it that at the end,
26:29 it didn't happen?
26:31 Because I personally was disappointed,
26:33 because I stayed awake at night to watch that fight,
26:35 but still, it never worked out.
26:36 - Yeah, I mean, I was so much disappointed,
26:40 and honestly, on that day, I cried.
26:42 You understand?
26:45 Because when I look at the effort, and the target,
26:50 and I just want to see that happen,
26:53 and that did not happen.
26:54 Yeah, I mean, it was a blow to me.
26:59 When you go back and check,
27:01 maybe the clip of the fight, after fight interview,
27:05 when you see my eyes, you can see clear that
27:08 this guy have gone through something.
27:11 You understand that, but--
27:12 - You said around 12, the punch which is received
27:15 in that round 12 was, I don't know,
27:19 maybe we often blame him for poor defense and all that.
27:23 So that blame too should come to you,
27:24 because you brought him to have a very poor defense.
27:26 - No, no, no, no, no.
27:27 - In boxing, definitely you cannot win a boxing fight
27:30 without you getting a punch.
27:32 So does it mean Mayweather don't have good defense?
27:35 Go answer.
27:38 Let's go.
27:41 - No.
27:42 - Does it mean Mayweather don't have good defense?
27:43 - But Mayweather has won all his fights in his career.
27:46 - No, but I mean, receiving punches.
27:48 - But he has won lots.
27:49 - So does it mean he doesn't have good defense?
27:50 So I'm telling you that--
27:50 - But he has won lots, he has won lots.
27:51 - No, no, no, we're not talking about the loss aspect.
27:53 - Yeah.
27:54 - You are trying to put the blame on me,
27:55 and I'm telling you-- - Yes, I'm blaming you.
27:56 - I'm just telling you that-- - I think that if we built--
27:57 - If a boxer got a punch,
28:00 and the boxer did not stop from there,
28:03 but still continue,
28:04 and you are putting the blame on the coach.
28:07 - But you should have built him to have a very good defense.
28:09 So when he can go down like this--
28:10 - So if he was not having a good defense,
28:12 can he start from the one to the 12?
28:15 So you have to understand,
28:18 when you are doing your work like this,
28:19 and something that you have been taught already,
28:23 and you neglect that,
28:25 and there was a mistake,
28:26 will you go back and blame your lecturer?
28:28 When you know, they have taught you already,
28:31 that don't drop your hands.
28:34 Or when you are writing, don't look the other side.
28:36 Focus on what you are doing,
28:37 you are looking this and you have done a mistake.
28:39 Who did it?
28:40 - Okay. - So you have to understand.
28:43 - 'Cause you are not accepting responsibility
28:45 for that punch, so I understand.
28:46 - No, no, no, what I said,
28:47 you are running away, you don't have to accept that--
28:49 - But in all honesty, in all honesty,
28:51 it says you groomed him from his amateur level,
28:55 it's what the only source for you to build him
28:57 to have a very solid defense.
28:59 - And brother, I asked you a question
29:01 you don't want to answer.
29:02 Does it mean me when I don't have defense?
29:04 - His very good defense is the reason
29:06 why he's one of the best boxers--
29:07 - Does he receive punch?
29:08 Does he receive punch? - He does.
29:10 - So what happened?
29:10 (laughing)
29:15 You understand, so you know certain things,
29:17 you cannot push her to that wall.
29:19 So for me to let you know,
29:21 that punch that he received before the fight,
29:25 when we were training, you remember we trained,
29:26 we did all the training here in Ghana.
29:29 - Yes, of course, I came here many times for that.
29:31 - Yeah, we went to the States like five days
29:33 or something before the fight,
29:35 which was not that good, but that was,
29:37 that time, that is what we can get,
29:38 that is all that we can get.
29:40 So during the preparation, I told him about that punch.
29:44 I told him about that punch because I know sometimes
29:49 he did not start boxing from there.
29:51 So sometimes, personally, he--
29:54 - With experience, you understand these things, yeah.
29:56 - So definitely anything can happen.
29:58 So we did a workout on that at the beach,
30:01 at the beach side in the sun,
30:04 in terms of me pushing him, he also pushing me,
30:08 in terms of bending the legs and moving front,
30:10 like this and that.
30:11 And I'll tell you that when that punch came to him,
30:15 he was almost dead, but he got up.
30:18 - I remember, because he didn't touch the canvas,
30:21 but he went down smooth.
30:22 - Yes, but he got back, you understand me?
30:24 So how did that happen?
30:27 - Did you try for a rematch?
30:28 Because there were reports, I remember,
30:30 Nina Tevanepo was a minister then,
30:31 and he had mentioned that we were going to go
30:33 for a rematch and all that.
30:35 - My brother, that fight is gone, so let's move on.
30:38 - Yeah, we are moving on, but we are talking about your story.
30:40 Then there was the Stanley Shafikov.
30:42 Because I'm talking about how you've been able to build,
30:46 I've come to ask about at what point you set up this gym
30:49 to become your own man and create him.
30:52 But I'm talking about this fight because
30:56 it was probably one of the highest points of your boxing,
30:59 because to go fight for a world title,
31:02 I felt that, no, at this point, Kyle was up there.
31:05 - So like I said, after the fight,
31:11 we did all we have to do.
31:12 That is why we got a chance again to go and fight
31:15 Stanley Shafikov, you understand me.
31:17 That, after that fight, when you win,
31:19 the winner will have a chance of fighting Robert Easter.
31:23 So if we won, we'll get a chance to fight Robert Easter again.
31:28 But same way, we have to go to Russia.
31:30 We do not get a chance of staging the fight,
31:34 either here or the promoters from Germany,
31:37 that's Saudi Arabia promotions.
31:39 So that is how--
31:41 - So Kyle, just a quick one.
31:44 You didn't get an opportunity to go and fight
31:48 Robert Easter Jr. again, but then you came back.
31:50 I remember when you came back,
31:52 I was in this gym to have a conversation with you.
31:54 I saw how distraught all of you were.
31:57 But a few days later,
31:58 the boxer you took to fight for the world title,
32:02 you put on a separate weight.
32:03 What happened to you?
32:04 - It's a long story.
32:05 It's a long story.
32:06 - Cut it in one minute.
32:07 - I will not even want to cut it or even start it.
32:11 It's a long story and that has passed.
32:14 I'm still in the gym making champions.
32:16 I'm proving that it was not by chance or by luck
32:21 for me to take somebody to that level.
32:23 And still I have to take other people to that level
32:27 or bringing other people up and they are going
32:30 and they are even doing better.
32:31 - Were you disappointed?
32:33 You were disappointed?
32:35 - Oh yeah, definitely.
32:35 You can put your effort in something
32:38 and what you don't expect happen
32:40 and you say, "Oh, you don't mind.
32:45 You understand me."
32:46 Whatever I will say and I've said it before is,
32:52 I have not regretted training Komi.
32:57 That is one thing.
32:59 But for disappointment, yes I am.
33:01 - But, okay, let me get something clear.
33:06 I want to understand because for you to take him up
33:10 to go fight him for a world title,
33:11 all of a sudden you go separate ways.
33:12 Is it that the team felt you were not good enough
33:15 to manage him in a world class fight?
33:18 - It's like you're trying to still go there.
33:20 I have told you that.
33:20 - Yeah, yeah. - That is gone.
33:21 - Because you want to understand it.
33:22 - No, no, no, that is gone, so let's cut it.
33:24 - Your viewer wants to understand.
33:26 - I'm telling them that that is gone, right?
33:28 I have done my best. - Yes.
33:30 - And everybody know what I did and what happens.
33:33 So I don't think I have to stand here
33:35 and try to justify things.
33:37 Whatever I have to say, I've said it all already.
33:39 - But you've not said it to me.
33:40 - And then see me in chambers, I'll tell you.
33:42 - No, no, no, I'm not seeing you in chambers.
33:43 - We are in the bronze gym now.
33:44 - Millions of people.
33:45 - We are in the bronze gym now.
33:46 - Yes. - And we have a lot of boxers here
33:48 who I'll be happy to talk about.
33:50 You understand? - I'll get you.
33:51 - So don't even worry yourself much.
33:53 - I'll get there.
33:54 - That I've gone and that I've passed.
33:56 - You'll be able to build boxers all your life
33:59 for 27 years.
34:00 - So if you are talking about one person for this whole time,
34:03 what about the others?
34:03 - So I'm asking, why did you go separate ways?
34:06 You said, oh, that part is gone.
34:08 - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - You were disappointed.
34:09 You are willing to say yes, you were disappointed.
34:11 But you're not willing to understand.
34:12 - I finalized it for you.
34:13 If I told you I was disappointed.
34:15 So that's it.
34:16 - So I said, is it that the management felt
34:20 you were not up to the standard to manage me anymore
34:23 or something, to train me anymore?
34:25 - Nobody sat down with me in regards to that.
34:27 - Okay.
34:31 So that's why you were disappointed.
34:33 - Nobody said anything to me.
34:35 I just got information this and that.
34:37 So that's it.
34:38 - Well, he doesn't want to talk about it.
34:42 So come and see him.
34:43 - So what answer again do you want me to give you?
34:45 - No, come and see Kyle in Killing Bars.
34:46 He doesn't want to answer the question.
34:48 (both laughing)
34:51 So Kyle, at what point did you decide
34:55 that I need to be my own man, set up my own gym,
34:59 train my own boxers and get to the top?
35:02 - Yeah, I mean, it happens when I have not even think of.
35:08 Having my own gym.
35:09 What happens was, I've told you,
35:13 I understudy or I was apprentice to Emmanuel Tego.
35:18 - Yeah.
35:19 I think you said Emmanuel Tego, yeah?
35:21 - Yeah, and the name of the coach was Emmanuel Tego.
35:24 That is Emmanuel Tego's uncle, Gameboy's uncle.
35:27 - Okay, okay, okay.
35:28 - We call it Akesi.
35:29 - Okay.
35:30 - He also have done great when it comes to Ghana boxing.
35:32 He have done fantastic work.
35:34 So my apprenticeship was under him.
35:37 So I was with him.
35:38 We are training the boxers and everything.
35:40 But he was having some issue with Buko Banko.
35:45 - Oh, okay.
35:46 - You understand?
35:47 So they were not in good terms.
35:49 So I normally, in the morning,
35:52 because I know I'm learning,
35:55 in the morning I go to a different gym
35:57 and I start training some of the boxers
36:00 that will be training at the gym.
36:02 Because I want to see what I can do.
36:03 So I started fundamentals with them.
36:05 So every morning I go to World Powers Gym.
36:08 In the other morning, they are not training.
36:11 So I take every boxer that I have there
36:13 because the passion was there too much for the game.
36:15 So you see me early in the morning,
36:17 around three o'clock, 3.34,
36:19 going out there, calling boxers.
36:21 Let's go to the beach.
36:22 Let's go to running.
36:23 Let's do this.
36:24 So that is what I was doing.
36:26 And one day Buko Banko came to me at that gym
36:30 to tell me that, "Oh, I allow you to train me.
36:32 I allow you to train me.
36:33 So please, what can I use?"
36:35 And I say, "Why?"
36:36 "Because you have a gym.
36:37 That's a Buko boxing gym."
36:39 And he said, "Oh, no, no, no, no.
36:40 I don't want to train there again.
36:41 I mean, they don't have time for me, blah, blah, blah."
36:46 So I said, "Okay, I'll get back to you.
36:48 Give me two weeks."
36:49 Because I know I was not having that capacity
36:52 to train a boxer because I was under.
36:56 I can say.
36:58 But luckily that time I've been under,
37:01 I can say for about seven years.
37:03 - Oh, really?
37:04 - Yeah.
37:05 - That's a long time.
37:06 - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
37:07 I've done seven years with him.
37:10 And I just told him, "Clay,
37:13 that, Akechi, please,
37:16 this is what Buko Banko told me,
37:19 that he want me to train him.
37:21 And I think I have to ask you permission
37:24 so that I can bring him to the gym."
37:26 And he said, "No, I should not."
37:30 But the word he used to attach the no,
37:34 I would not like to say it on camera.
37:37 So that means he was not happy for me to bring him.
37:40 And he told me that if I feel I want to train him,
37:45 then I can go ahead and train him.
37:47 You understand?
37:49 Yes.
37:50 At that time, the training I was doing over there,
37:55 because I know I would venture into a gym,
37:58 I have the name of the bronze boxing already.
38:01 - Why that name?
38:04 Why bronze?
38:04 - Okay, bronze was my nickname when I was young.
38:09 Yes.
38:12 - And what does it mean?
38:12 What does it mean?
38:14 - At that time, if I tell you
38:15 the real meaning of the bronze, no.
38:19 But later, it became clear to me that
38:22 in this boxing that I'm doing,
38:26 my first job will be in America, bronze.
38:29 That is one thing I told myself too.
38:33 And it happens.
38:34 - Okay.
38:35 - So my first traveling in my life was to the States,
38:38 and to the bronze.
38:40 (dramatic music)
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