Ekow Essuman is ex-basketball hopeful playing box champion looking for Taylor

Ekow Essuman has had a slam Dunk boxing career after he has left his hope to be a basketball star.

Essuman came to the VK from Botswana of 11 years and emigrated with a passion for sport.

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He started playing basketball at school and only started boxing in an attempt to improve his chances in the field.

Essuman told Vechtpost: “When I finally moved to the United Kingdom, I came to football and then basketball and I did very well in basketball.

“One season I went to a number of try-outs for a large team locally and I didn’t get in because I wasn’t fit enough.

“They wanted me to be more ambidexter. It really came to me and I wanted to improve myself, become fitter and come back stronger for the following season.

I tried it and my first session I had two left feet and struggled with the bag.

“I slowly came in and it came to the point where I thought” I will have one fight “and I just caught the bug.”

It was not long, Essuman competed in the national final after the start of boxing at the age of 17 and even earned a place on the GB team.

That was all while studying for a marketing, design and communication rate at Nottingham Trent University.

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He said: “It was initially just juggling with the two. I would take my uni work with me to camp and do it between the training sessions and at night when we were meant to rest.

“Shortly after Uni I became a junior web developer for the AGA group.

“At that time I was working on a maximum of 40 websites for them, in different countries, also in different languages. I did that at GB.

“But in the end when I was offered the podium place, I had to put that aside, because I spent a lot of time with GB on the camp, so I couldn’t work at home with regard to web design.”

Essuman eventually became professional in 2016 with Hall of Fame Promoter Frank Warren.

And more than nine years and 22 attacks, he has become one of the best welter weights in the country with British and Commonwealth titles to his name.

Essuman suffered for the first time in 2023 – lost a decision to Harry Scarff – but since then he has returned with two victories since then.

Now he welcomes former undisputed world champion for the lightweight Josh Taylor To the 147LB division this Saturday in Scotland.

I tried it and my first session I had two left feet and struggled with the bag. I came in slowly and it came to the point where I thought “I will have one fight” and I just caught the bug.

Ekow Essuman

And the two know each other well from their time set up in the GB in Sheffield.

Essuman told Ring magazine: “To be honest, I personally advertised him as one of the higher talents on GB while I was there, so I always respected him.

“I was always just photographing the hip of him, just very honest and such.

“We spoke a few times as pros, almost competitions we had had and things like that, and the respect was always there.

“He knows I respect him. I trained hard for it because I know he will form a hard puzzle to solve, but I’m going to solve it.”

Taylor was beaten by Teofimo Lopez in 2023 and then suffered in his Rematch with Jack Catterall last May.

And his career can be at stake when he returns to weight.

Essuman said, “Regardless of whether he has the answers or not, he will come apart because I will let nothing be done but that.”

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