Ahead of their epic light heavyweight clash in the middle of this month, Ghana’s Prince Oko Nartey has sent out a strong warning to Joe ‘Mighty’ Ward, the Irish slugger he faces in an Elite Sheer Promotions’ fight bill in Ireland.
Nartey (11-1, 10 KOs) has been training fervently day and night in Accra, all with the single ambition of stopping Ward (9-1, 5 KOs) when the two southpaws take to the ring over 8 rounds at the Aura Complex, Letterkenny on November 18.
“Camp has been good, we are preparing very well and ready,” 29 year old Oko Nartey opened up at his training base in the Ghana capital.
“I’ve got a chance. He may see me as a local champion, but that would be his biggest mistake. Even though he’s an Olympian, which I respect him for, I’ve got what it takes to knock him out, so he should get ready for that,” he stated.
A 6-year pro, this will be Prince Oko Nartey’s second career fight in Europe, the first of which ended with his first and only defeat thus far, via unanimous points to James Kraft of Germany in Hamburg in June 2019.
The Ghanaian who has won every fight since is adamant a different story will be told this time when he storms Ireland.
“I want to assure my fans to expect a different result this time. I’ve been there before, I went to Germany, and the trauma I went through is crazy and I don’t want to experience that again,” Oko Nartey stated.
“So watch out for me, we are going there with a different mindset. I don’t want to say much, but it’s going to be massive for me in Ireland,” Nartey said.
30 year old Ward who will fight in his country for the first time as a pro, made the headlines recently when he offered to step in as last minute replacement to face Ghana-born, Joshua Buatsi following an injury enforced withdrawal of Dan Azeez for their scheduled WBA world title eliminator back on October 21.
Oko Nartey applauds the Irishman for the bravado but insists that will mean nothing come fight night in Letterkenny.
“It’s good to have that level of confidence. It’s normal for boxers because that’s what we do. It’s our work. Without confidence, I don’t think you can even stand in front of any other boxer that you want to fight,” Nartey said.
“For me, that’s just a hype. He should focus on getting ready for me as well. For me, he should just get ready for me. It’s going to be a massive fight,” the kid from Somanya, Eastern Ghana affirmed.