Rev Eben Denny Graceman, a pastor at Perez Chapel International, Techiman, has disclosed that he discovered Ghana’s Olympic medalist Samuel Takyi.
According to Rev Graceman, he discovered Takyi when the young boxer was about 10 or 12 during a street boxing event for children at Bukom in the Greater Accra Region and adopted and groomed him to become the fighter he is today.
Speaking in a phone interview with Accra100.5FM’s Rahman Kubaja, Rev Graceman said: “I discovered him at Watu in Accra near Bukom”.
“A guy called ‘Hard Man’ used to organise street boxing for children on Sundays between 4 pm and 6 pm just by the roadside and that was how it started,” he narrated.
Narrating further, he said: “Some of us got ourselves involved by sponsoring in our own small way and there was this day I got there and Samuel showed up to fight”.
“Although he was beaten mercilessly, I liked his aggression”, Rev Graceman said.
“He came back again the following Sunday and won the fight and I said I could see greatness in him. So, I adopted him, met his grandmother and started taking care of him including his academics…”
Rev Graceman noted that realising the potential of Samuel Takyi, he handed him over to ‘Hard Man’ to train him professionally at the Discipline gym near Usher Fort.
He took pride in Samuel Takyi’s Olympic feat for self and country.
Samuel Takyi has become Ghana’s only Olympic medalist in 29 years.
He won aboxing bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
He lost the semi-final to USA’sDuke Ragan in a controversial decision.
Samuel Takyi joins the pantheon of Ghanaian Olympic boxing greatssuch as Clement Quartey, a light welterweight who won silver in Rome 1960;Eddie Blay,a bronze light-welterweight medalist from Tokyo 1964 andPrince Amartey,who made history in Munch 1972.
Source: classfmonline.com
