▪️This is a high energy bragging rights battle between two of Africa’s premier boxing nations in the countdown to the Glasgow Commonwealth Games
April 7, 2026
The profound boxing rivalry between Nigeria and Ghana erupts again in Accra today, May 7, 2026, serving as a crucial friendly to determine West African supremacy and prepare elite contenders for the upcoming Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
The show, featuring eight bouts, starts at 6pm (9pm East African time) at the Accra Sports Stadium.
It’s the second friendly match between the two West African boxing giants. The first one took place in 1998 at the same venue ahead of the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Strangely, Ghana’s head coach Ofori Asare told boxersworld.co.ke no winner was declared but in today’s second friendly, Asare said they will announce the winner of the eight-bout card.
Reigning African Games champions Nigeria is parading a new team comprised of boxers who excelled in the Commonwealth Games Open trials. The only international in the team is African Games champion Blessing Oraekwe who will face Ghanaian rookie Elizabeth Nartey.
“The Ghana boxer is no threat at all to me, it’ll be easy work, I’ll beat her,” Oraekwe told boxersworld.co.ke in a phone chat.
“The hard part is done, it’s time to take the victory to my motherland.”
In addition to Nartey, other Ghanaian boxers making their debuts are female featherweight Nancy Banfo and light-middleweight Khalid Abdul. The rest are regulars and include the most experienced boxer in the team, two-time Commonwealth Games bronze medallist in 2014 and 2022 light-welterweight Abdul Wahid Omar and African Games bantamweight champion Amadu Mohammed, a quarter-finalist at the 2023 World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Light-heavyweight Desmond Pappoe, one of the three Ghanaian gold medallists in the 2025 Africa Youth Championships, will represent the senior team for the first time following his graduation to the elite level.
A board member of Ghana Boxing Federation Sarah Lotus Asare is proud of the boxing rivalry between the two West African countries which she feels is an important ingredient in improving boxing standards.
“Ghana and Nigeria both have good boxing traditions, an event like this will help the fighters especially team Ghana get the exposure they need while still having the luxury of a home crowd,“ she said.
“In terms of expectations, well the boxers have been camping for sometime now and these are believed to be the best boxers in Ghana hence they have to perform, we have to see that they will be able to represent Ghana well, it’s not only about winning but showing that they are ready and want to win.”
Pairings tonight going by the two team lists. Ghana’s boxers first:
Female
54kg: Ramatu Quaye vs Kadijat Ajisola
57kg: Nancy Banfo vs Aishat Gbadamosi
75kg: Elizabeth Nartey vs Blessing Oraekwe
Men
55kg: Amadu Mohammed vs Michael Ogunremi
60kg: Ebenezer Ankrah vs Sodiq Oduniyi
65kg: Abdul Wahib vs Abdulrahman Abdulwahaab
70kg: Khalid Abdul vs Folly Hassan
80kg: Desmond Pappoe vs Daniel Joshua
This showdown, heavily focused on regional bragging rights, will see young, hungry fighters looking to cement their spots in national teams for the Commonwealth Games scheduled for Glasgow, Scotland, from July 23-August 2, 2026.
The Nigerian Boxing Federation (NBF) invited 40 boxers to a rigorous camp, following trials in Lagos to select the best for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games.
By inviting a large pool of 40 boxers to the camp shows NBF still has doors open for other boxers to be brought on board.
Two of the eight gold medallists at the Accra African Games, featherweight Omole “King Machine” Dolapo and lightweight Cynthia Ogunsemilore, are keen to be included in the Glasgow Games.
“I’m still waiting to be told when my ban ends, I’m training and I have full confidence in the new NBF office,” Cynthia told me in a phone chat.
The same sentiments were echoed by Dolapo who scored a third round KO win over Ghana’s Isaac Nettey in a pro fight in May, 2025. He is ready to move up to lightweight since men’s featherweight is not included in the Commonwealth Games.
Tonight’s encounter is about more than just a friendly; it is a battle for West African supremacy. The friendly serves as a crucial measuring stick for both nations as they aim to improve upon previous international performances, ensuring boxers are match-fit to face the best in Scotland.
Enter the bragging rights battle. While Nigeria have an edge over Ghana in amateur boxing competitions, Ghana is more successful than Nigeria in pro boxing.
At the Olympics, Nigeria has won six medals to Ghana’s four and in world championships, Nigeria has won one gold through Davidson Andeh in 1978, silver by light-heavyweight Jacklord Jacobs (1993) and two bronze medals from welterweight Roland Omuruyi (1982) and light-welterweight Moses James (1991).
Ghana on the other hand has won only one bronze medal in the world championships by light-welterweight Amon Kotey, bronze medallist at the 1974 World Championships. The Ghanaians can still claim to have produced the first ever black African boxer to win an Olympic medal, Ike Quartey who won silver at the 1960 Olympics.
In the last Commonwralth Games, Ghana was eighth overall with two silvers and a bronze with Nigeria placed 10th on one silver and three bronze medals. In the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Nigeria was 12th overall with two bronze medals and Ghana 14th on one bronze.
Ghana rules Nigeria in pro boxing, producing over 10 world champions among them David “DK” Poison, the first Ghanaian world champion in 1975, WBC featherweight and super-featherweight champion Azumah Nelson, three-time world champion across two weight divisions Nana Yaw Konadu, WBA welterweight champion Ike “Bazooka” Quartey, WBO bantamweight champion Alfred “Cobra” Kotey, IBF welterweight champion Joshua Clottey and WBO super-bantamweight champion Isaac Dogbe.
Nigeria’s most prominent pro boxers are Hogan “Kid” Bassey, the first Nigerian world champion in the featherweight class in 1957 to 1959 and Dick Tiger (Richard Ihetu), the first African boxer to win two world titles in two weight classes and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991. There’s British-Nigerian renowned Anthony Joshua, Samuel Peter, Efe Ajagba and Ike Ibeabuchi.
The growth of Nigeria’s pro boxing has been curtailed by some dishonest promoters with the WBC, IBF, WBA and WBO showing lack of trust on the Nigeria Boxing Board of Control (NBB of C) which they accuse of age falsification and improper record-keeping.
This has prompted the intervention of the government-backed Nigeria Boxing Federation to take over pro boxing management in order to bring back sanity in the bare-chested game.
