That's how he became #1 contender. Shittu was #1 before that. The new African Boxing Union president who was also a WBC vice prez, was pushing for an African champ for a WBC title shot. That's how Shittu became #1. He most definitely was. In fact, he was the only one.
Boxbible,,,,, John Mensan Kpalongo,,,,, Not even the best 118 lb. Banatamweight in his neighborhood. The Accra, Ghana newspaper reported, the Togo Bantamweight as having a 35-7-2 (11 KO) record when he 'upset' Sulley Shittu in '15-Rounds' in January 1978, for the African Bantamweight Championsip. Sulley Shittu had defeated John Kpalongo, '6' previous times. Sulley, a one-time #1 WBC Bantamweight, was undefeated up to August 1977, when he was 'upset' by Mexican Bantamweight,,,, Mario Castro 16-1-0 (11 KO's) by KO 5. Spotty Ghana Newspaper reporting, has Sulley at 63-0-1 when entering the bout with Mario Castro in August 1977. He most likely was still a Top 10 Bantamweight when he lost to John Mensah Kpalongo in January 1978.
I remember Joe Tetteh from when I was a kid. He was in the same stable as my dad and they used to spar regular. A real have gloves will travel pro who would fight anybody.
Al, back in the early '70s when I started reading everything on the sport, you could never pick up a magazine without seeing Joe's name in the results. Generally having lost but gone the distance with the local hotshot in the hotshot's hometown. And that was from everyone from 126 to 140. Outstanding fighter. I would have loved to have seen those sparring sessions, dude.
South Africa is never considered to be a different region.It's called Southern Africa which is South Africa,Botswana,Namibia,Zimbabwe.There are people who speak the same languages or related languages e.g Ndebele & Zulu,Tsonga/Shangani in Zimbabwe,South Africa,Mozambique.Sotho is spoken in Zimbabwe,South Africa and Lesotho then Venda and Shona have many similarities.Also there's a Rand Union (a monetary union in the region) then Rhodesia had to hold a referendum on whether to be part of South Africa or not.Also SOuth Africa is not an Island so you can never refer to it as separate from the 'main continent countries' whatever that means.
Just been looking through his record, a real who's who of boxing and nearly all as the "opponent" and on the road.
I said 'main continent' not 'mainland'. If you feel South Africa is the same as Central Africa, so be it. Geographical wise, all are on the same continent, but character wise, I consider South Africa, a little more independent than, than lets say Sudan.
Thank you... And if you take more than just a superficial look at the different cultures around Africa, you'll find that Sub-Saharan Africa has more cultural differences than between Northern and Southern Europe. African drift within the continent has been going on about 100x longer than the rest of the world! As such, it has way more diversity. And if you compare things like body stature, cranial structure, and facial features, there is way more variety within the continent than the rest of the world combined. Paint the rest of the world the same color and the differences between a Caucasian and an Indian would be less than say a Ghanaian and a Somali. A West African is easily recognized in East Africa. As is a Southerner in West Africa. And they would all feel way out of place culturally if they went and lived in another region. Ok... Patrick Lumumba, Mustafa Wasajja, Chisanda Mutti, Louis Pergaud, Joe Lasisi
Go and read up on some of their current president, Jacob Zuma's, antics and you might have a change of policy...
Davidson Andeh..............Nigeria Tapsola Tiga..................Togo Vitalis B'bege.................Uganda Vitalis B'bege, a murderous 'knock-out' atrist. Was regarded as the pre-Olympic Tournament Event favorite, held in Montreal in November/December 1975. Scored some 'frightening' Knock-outs there, KO 1 over.....Nico Jeurissen (Holland) KO 2 over.....Leo Pelletier (Canada) Competed in the (-67 Kg) Welterweight Division. Also won the 1974 African Championships (November 1974) Had a record of something like 93-3 with 85 Knock-outs.
South African Only Elijah 'Tap Tap' Makathani Charlie 'Silver Assassin' Weir Solomon 'Bushy' Bester Gert Steyn They could be listed as 'South African Light-Middleweight Flops',,,,,, at the World Championship level.
