Barely a fortnight after suffering a lopsided loss to American Ryan Garcia in a world title elimination fight in San Antonio, Texas, USA, Ghanaian boxer l, Emmanuel ‘Game Boy’ Tagoe returned home beating his chest that he could defeat any boxer in the lightweight division.
The 33-year-old former International Boxing Organisation lightweight champion claimed his abysmal display in the ring was as a result of being forced to fight Garcia at the super lightweight instead of his normal weight.
He said the American had weight problems and, therefore, forced him [Tagoe] to also fight at a higher weight and as a result had problems in the ring.
“When I got to the United States, we were told Garcia could only make weight at the region of 139 pounds while the required weight for lightweight is 135 pounds, so I fought at super-lightweight and that is why I struggled,” he explained on his arrival in Accra.
Tagoe was on top of his blame game as he cited an injured right hand and a twisted left ankle for his inability to throw punches effectively on the night.
“You should have realised I couldn’t use my right hand most often because I was injured in my right hand before the bout and had a problem too with my left ankle”.
With a ring record of 32 wins (including 15 knockouts) and two losses in 34 fights, the Ghanaian insisted that without those handicaps, he could have floored the Mexican American easily.
“If you look at the way I fought, I could have won but for my right hand and leg injuries. I am the first boxer to take him to all the 12 rounds and it tells you I’m the best he has fought so far,” he stated.
The Bukom native was in his elements as he continued to pontificate that no fighter in the lightweight division could take him down.
“I don’t see any fighter in the world currently who can defeat me at the lightweight division. Frankly speaking, I don’t see any boxer,” Tagoe said.
His manager, Peter Khan lauded his boxer for his efforts in the ring, acknowledging his long absence from the ring may have taken away his sharpness.
“Emmanuel went 12 rounds with Ryan. Emmanuel was out of the ring longer than Ryan, so that is a victory. I think we learned that Emmanuel has a chin. He took some big shots tonight.
“It was a good fight, and Ryan performed really well,” he wrote on Twitter after the fight.
Credit: Graphic Sports
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