Alex Baba: Ghanaian Olympic Boxer and World-Title Challenger
Ghanaian flyweight Alex Baba represented his country at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. He finished equal 17th after losing his opening bout to North Korea’s Choi Chol-su.
Alex Baba’s move into professional boxing
Born in Accra on 6 July 1970, Alexander “Alex” Baba competed at the Olympics at age 22. His professional record begins in April 1993, with early fights in Ghana before a later schedule that included the United States, Thailand and Puerto Rico.
He won an African flyweight title in 1995 and subsequently competed for WBC International honors. Recorded victories in that period included wins over Harry Woods, Igor Gerasimov and Bashiru Thompson in Accra, followed by a decision over Oscar Arciniega in Miami in 1999.
World championship opportunity and later opposition
On 26 October 2001, Baba challenged Pongsaklek Wonjongkam for the WBC flyweight championship in Hat Yai, Thailand. Wonjongkam retained the title. Baba then faced Eric Morel in Puerto Rico in January 2002, losing by unanimous decision.
The embedded footage features his meeting with Leopoldo Arrocha in Miami in June 2000, a separate contest from the later championship challenge. Arrocha won that bout on a unanimous decision.
Baba’s later opponents included Ricardo Vargas, Danny Romero, Antonio Escalante and Clarence Adams. His draw with Romero came in Las Vegas in May 2005. Taken together, the Olympic appearance and professional results trace a career that moved from Ghana’s amateur team to a broad range of international assignments.
Sources
- Professional bout record
- Olympedia athlete record
- Ghana Olympic boxing results
Career records and reporting: boxrec.com.
Tags
Boxing, Boxing History
