Joseph Agbeko: Women shouldn't be boxers
Former IBF Bantamweight champion Joseph Agbeko believes women should not engage in boxing, insisting it is a sport for men.
Former IBF Bantamweight champion Joseph Agbeko believes women should not engage in boxing, insisting it is a sport for men.
The Ghanaian boxer explained that although he believes in the potential of women, he doesn’t feel boxing is a field they should venture into.
Speaking to Accra-based Class FM, Agbeko noted that he’d never allow any of his female children to become pugilists.
“I’ve two girls and I do not support female boxing. People can disagree with me [but] I believe everything men can do, women can do even better but when it comes to boxing, I feel men are born warriors,” he said.
“I don’t think it’s good for women to go out there and shed blood, so, I don’t support women boxing and I don’t think any of my kids will get into boxing.”
The 42-year-old is a two-time world champion, having fought 43 times, winning 38 and losing five in his career.
Agbeko’s last defeat came in 2013 against Cuban boxer Guillermo Rigondeax but he has since won each of his last nine bouts.
Discussing the state of the sport in Ghana, Agbeko said boxing is currently lacking support and called on the government to act.
“Ghana boxing is not getting the support it deserves, we’re not getting it, not even half; boxing is part of sports in Ghana, so, I don’t know why the government is not supporting boxing as they are supposed to.
“I can confidently say this because we’ve boys preparing for the commonwealth games and the games are just around the corner, the people [boxers] going for the games should by this time going for training tours somewhere, doing a lot of activities that can prepare them for the competition.
“Look at Samuel Takyi, he did well by winning a bronze medal for Ghana [at the Olympics] but I don’t think the government invested in him for him to win the bronze medal because the boys are not getting any support, they are not getting any challenges to prepare their minds and expose them," he added.
