In August 2008, Ghanaian boxer Joshua Clottey defeated American boxer, Zab Judah at the Maddison Square Gardens in Las Vegas to win the IBF welterweight title.
The fight was intense and close as both boxers traded heavy punches and sometimes went outside the rules of the sport by activating some foul means as they both bid to win the bout.
Joshua Clottey has revealed the background story to the intense show of rivalry and animosity which was displayed in the fight.
Clottey narrates that the fight had been in the making for four years after he clashed with Zab Judah at a boxing gym.
According to him, Zab Judah lost his cool after he (Joshua Clottey) rejected an offer to spar with him but fight him instead.
“We were going to the gym when we met Zab Judah and his boys. Immediately he was me, he asked if I was interested in sparring and I asked why should I be sparring with him when I can fight him.
“He was multiple world champion then so when he said that I told him that I’d love to beat him. What I said triggered him and he started acting up. He even pulled a gun and I got scared. The people present at the gym separated but I wasn’t interested in any fight with him. My fight with him started building up four years before,” he said.
Clottey in the interview with Ernest Brew Smith on his Youtube channel also opened up on his fight with Manny Pacquiao.
He cited ace actor Majeed Michel as a witness to the incident and revealed some interesting background stories about the fight.
“I never said that I ate Banku and okro. Majeed Michel will confirm that I had a very bad running stomach. Whenever we had a fight, my girlfriend prepared Okro stew and banku because it helped in gaining weight after the weighing.
“Prior to that fight, a certain woman promised to prepare okro stew for me. She prepared the stew and gave it to me in the hotel. I had to shed a lot of weight after the weighing I decided to eat a lot of things to regain my weight. I had lost weight badly so I quickly needed a fix.
“Apparently you don’t have to take okro stew after you’ve taken a lot of sugary stuff but I didn’t know. I took it and it affected me but I didn’t tell anyone that it was due to the okro stew that I lost”, he said.
Source: Ghana Web