...and unveils a new nickname: ‘Ice Cold’

On a beautiful Saturday night in the Long Island, NY township of Huntington, Ghana’s Lartei Lartey treated boxing fans who gathered at the Paramount, Huntington’s beautiful boxing dome, to authentic Bukom style boxing.

‘Ice Cold’, the pride of Darko Boxing, fought the third bout of the night. His opponent, Carlos Ramos from Puerto Rico was the first to enter the ring. He was followed by ‘Ice Cold’ who emerged clad in the red, gold, green and black star of Ghana. There was a relatively small but strong Ghanaian contingent there to support him. Friends, family, and business partners of Attorney Eric Darko, Lartei’s manager, were all present. So were Lartei’s friends from Bukom in the Greater New York Area. Members of the Ghanaian Legal Fraternity in New York, and sports enthusiasts – Ozzie Sports, the promoters of the Black Stars’ recent game in Philadelphia, came to support. Chief among the supporters was a proud son of Ghanaian boxing, Ben ‘Wonder’ Tackie who is currently with Darko Boxing. Carlos Ramos, also a southpaw like the “Ice Cold’ man, gave a good account of himself in the first two rounds. He was the aggressor. Lartei was however the superior technician of the night. In the third round, Lartei chose to rest on the ropes invoking memories of Azumah Nelson’. As Ramos went on the offensive, Lartei wore him out and before the round was over, deftly emerged out of the corner and started pummeling Ramos. Ramos went down and the referee counted. After a little stoppage to see if Ramos could continue, the round ended. The Ice Cold man came into the fourth round prepared to end the bout. He rained Bukom bombs on his opponent until he brought him to his knees. The referee and the judges saved Ramos from further punishment. The Ice Cold man had added a TKO to his record and taken a couple of steps further up the ladder of his championship climb.

The Ghanaian crowd was ecstatic. Shouts of “s-a-y-o-o-o” and trumpets filled the air. The Huntington crowd had been wooed and Emmanuel Lartei had become a boxer to watch by many in the boxing fraternity who are anxious to see future World Champions emerge.