Former Commonwealth gold medallist Ray Narh says he is ready to step into the shoes of Azumah Nelson and become Ghana’s next boxing hero. Narh, 23-1, 20KOs, fights for the first time this year when he takes on Mexican slugger Michel Lozada 34-6-1, 27 KOs, for the vacant WBC USNBC lightweight title on April 3 on the undercard of Bernard Hopkins vrs Roy Jones Jr epic at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.

But the 31 year old Ghanaian famously called The Emperor says the fight against the 26 year old Lozada will be the first step on his journey to rule the lightweight division of world boxing. “My ambition is of course to be the first Ghanaian to be undisputed world champ and it will start from April 3 and then move on to greater fights thereafter. I want to fight all of the champs at lightweight, talking about Soto, Funika, Juan Diaz , Nate Campbel, just to name a few,” Narh said in a chat from his US base.

The Emperor has been training fervently since his 5th round stoppage of Marteze Logan last August in what was his first fight in nearly two years. Now, he says he is more than ready to take on Lozada on the bill put together by Golden Boy Promotions and Square Ring which will also show on HBO Pay-Per-View. “Everything is great, going according to plan and come fight time I will be more than ready,” Ray said.

On the opponent, who like the Ghanaian boxer, has a very good knock-out record, “I put him among the best because he has fought for the world title couple of times and he has a pretty good record. He is also from Mexico where good boxers come from so I am not taking him lightly at all,” stated Ray.

Now a US citizen residing in Pennsylvania, Narh says he still has the nation at heart and will be entering the ring on April 3 to do battle for Ghana. He has therefore called on his countrymen to rally their support behind him as he begins the crusade to bring Ghana a boxing world champion again. “I promise Ghanaians a big win, they should not lose hope in some of us and we’ll try to put big smiles on their faces,” Ray Narh pledged.

“They should support me with their strong prayers and it will happen on April 3 because this chance for success, reaching the top is long overdue. But hey we give thanks to the almighty God for whatever comes our way since he knows best. But this time round we will do it and emulate the likes of Azumah, Nana Yaw Konadu and Ike Quartey big time,” The Emperor concluded. Credit: Prince Dornu-Leiku / SportsInGhana.com