Akotoku Academy

In the heart of the bustling Jamestown area of Accra sits a boxing treasure called Akotoku Boxing Academy, home of Ghana’s world champions, is still regarded among the best in the country.

For nearly 50 years, Akotoku has produced some of the world’s greatest boxers. Founded in 1974 by the late Francis Attuquaye Clottey, Akotoku is where legends such as Azumah Nelson, Ike Quartey, David “Poison” Kotey and Alfred Kotey honed their craft.

Nelson, one of the greatest fighters of his era, is an International Boxing Hall of Fame inductee. Quartey was a mainstay in the welterweight division, holding the WBA 147-pound world title from 1994-1997. In 1975, David Kotey became Ghana’s first world champion by defeating Ruben Olivares to win the WBC world featherweight title. Alfred Kotey briefly held a world bantamweight strap.

Akotoku is still going strong today. Ten boxers currently call the gym home, all working under the guidance of head trainer Theophilus Edwin Addo.

Addo stresses the importance of putting in work to his pupils. The trainer would know, having risen from timekeeper to assistant trainer under the respected Robert Marquaye Laryea, who eventually handed over lead trainer duties to Addo.

“I remember my boss traveling during the Mortein Boxing League,” Addo told BoxingAfrica.com. “I eventually took charge of the boxers to win the league and ended up becoming the head coach.“I have the difficult task of not only producing world champions for Ghana but to ensure the legacy of the academy lives on. We have produced the best boxer of all time in Africa aside from three other world champions and I am glad to be continuing the legacy.”Much of that success is owed to the late Clottey, who Azumah once described as “One of the greatest boxing coaches Ghana has ever produced.”Clottey was a respected boxer in Ghana who became a trainer upon retirement. He was the lead trainer of the Black Bombers, the national amateur boxing squad. His sons, Hector Clottey and Judas Clottey followed his steps, winning national titles.