John Theophilus Oti Ankrah (25 December 1925 – 28 May 1995), better known as Roy Ankrah, was a Ghanaian

featherweight Featherweight is a weight class in the combat sports of boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and Greco-Roman wrestling. Boxing Professional boxing History A featherweight boxer weighs in at a limit of . In the early days of the division, ...

boxing contender during the 1950s. He was given the nicknames "The Black Flash" and "Mr. Perpetual Motion" because of his fast hands and crafty footwork. Ankrah held the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

title from 1951 to 1952 and had his biggest fight against then-reigning

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

NYSAC The New York State Athletic Commission or NYSAC, also known as the New York Athletic Commission, is a division of the New York State Department of State which regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of New York, ...

, and ''The Ring'' bantamweight world champion in a non-title fight as both fighters weighed above the limit for a

bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class ...

fighter.

Early life

According to some sources, Roy Ankrah was born in

Jamestown, Ghana Located directly east of the Korle Lagoon, Jamestown and Usshertown are the oldest districts of Accra, Ghana and emerged as communities around the 17th century British Gold Coast, British Fort James (Ghana), James Fort and Dutch Gold Coast, Dutch ...

in 1923; however other sources have listed him as being born in 1925. His aunt raised Ankrah after the death of his mother. He soon became known as a street fighter and won the regional school championship at the age of 12. By this time, Ankrah was already working as a mechanic in his uncle's auto repair shop. He won his first professional fight at the age of 17.

Career

After winning the national featherweight title in 1941, he joined the army. During his time with the

Armed Forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a ...

, he was sent to India during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, where he is said to have participated in numerous exhibition fights and championships. After his return from India, the Ghanaian fighter began training for the national featherweight title once again. During this time, he defeated Nigerian stoker Kid Parry, claiming the title of West African champion. He is said to have kept this undefeated status until he moved to the British Isles. According to reports, Ankrah switched to the professional camp on the Gold Coast in 1941. He was undefeated throughout his 110 fights until 1949. During this period, he became the national champion in five different weight classes;

flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing up to and including 51 kg (112 lb) for a title fight. Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of boxin ...

, featherweight,

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing (sport), rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) boxing weight classes, weight class in the spor ...

and

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

. Following a suggestion by his fellow fighter Freddie Mills, Ankrah made his debut as the first Ghanaian to fight overseas. On February 8, 1950, he joined George Lamont in the ring in Paisley, Scotland. He went on record as having 10 further wins before eventually losing to Jimmy Murray on a foul on May 30, 1950. On April 30, 1951, Ankrah won the Commonwealth featherweight title against Ronnie Clayton. He maintained this title until October 2, 1954, when he lost to Billy Kelly. Shortly thereafter, Ankrah took a break and stopped competing in the British Isles. However, in 1959, he traveled back to his native Ghana, where he competed in three more professional fights, losing two. He later supported the Ghanaian National Team in preparation for the

and

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. He assisted the British trainer Jack Roy at the

1960 Olympic Games The 1960 Olympics may refer to: *The 1960 Winter Olympics, which were held in Squaw Valley, United States *The 1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 19 ...

when Clement Quartey won the first Olympic medal for the former British colony. After these games, Ankrah was promoted to National Coach and worked directly with the National Sports Council until 1994, in addition to being a judge for the

World Boxing Council The World Boxing Council (WBC) is an international professional boxing organization. It is among the four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Association (WBA), International Boxing Federation ...

(WBC).

Professional boxing record

References

External links

*
Image - Roy Ankrah
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ankrah, Roy 1925 births 1995 deaths Featherweight boxers Lightweight boxers Place of birth missing Super-featherweight boxers Ghanaian male boxers 20th-century Ghanaian sportsmen