COMMONWEALTH BOXING COUNCIL BULLETIN 3rd July 2020
THE LATE ALFRED (COBRA) KOTEY 30th June 1968 – 30th June 2020
I am very sorry to learn from my old friend Yoofi Boham, of the death four days ago of our former
Champion, Alfred Kotey, whose very successful early career in Ghana and the UK I remember very
well.
He won our vacant Flyweight Title in Accra in 1989, successfully defending it a year later in the UK,
vacating when he moved up in weight.
Four years afterwards he won the WBO Bantam Title defending successfully twice before losing it in
1995 but remarkably, bounced back in his next contest to win the WBC International Title, a Title he
never lost in the ring.
His career became more erratic after that, winning and losing a number of minor Title contests but
when he twice failed to win the Ghanaian and African Boxing Union Superfeather Championship
against fellow countryman Gideon Annor, drawing the first in 2000 and losing the second in 2001,
it seemed clear that his career as a world-class boxer was over.
He carried on far too long until 2008 mostly losing, regrettably a story not unknown in this toughest
of all sports.
He will be remembered as a gentleman and a classy athlete but one whose talents inside the ring
were almost certainly not matched by the sort of financial reward that may more easily accrue to
home grown heroes, a fate that often befalls talented boxers who have to leave their homelands to
pursue their careers in countries where opportunities exist to get to the top, but where success does
not always translate into either a substantial ticket sales or television audiences.
On behalf of the Directors of the Commonwealth Boxing Council I ask Mr Boham to convey to this
fine Champion’s family, friends and colleagues our most sincere sympathies.
SIMON BLOCK
For the Commonwealth Boxing Council
