Emmanuel Mankatah Sackey left the Idrowhyt Event Centre in Dansoman as the new UBO Continental Africa super featherweight champion.
Born deaf and dumb, he dominated Nigeria’s able-bodied Yusuf Muhammad Olelakan in five rounds, delivering a technical knockout.
It was his eighth victory in 12 professional bouts and the vibrant crowd, who watched Sackey land punch after punch, cheered at the top of their voices as the young man received the belt.
Silence remained Sackey’s companion, but the 25-year-old realized he had done something that many with similar conditions would consider a chimera. Sackey spent 15 years in the central region with his mother, but after struggling at school, Emmanuel joined his father, Samuel Sackey in Chorkor.
There, Emmanuel developed an affinity for boxing, often following his peers to numerous gyms. Samuel, who once pursued the sport and gave up at a young age, was initially dismissive.
“I told him I couldn’t box and there is no way he could so I won’t let him. He was swimming at chorkor and I was told boxing was better as compared to swimming. So he followed a young boxer to the gym.
They had some amateur fight and they decided to fix him and I was like he had not trained enough to be part but after fighting they noticed he could fight and gave him the chance,” Samuel Sackey, Emmanuel’s father, told 3Sports.
Sackey found his home at the Warriors boxing gym in Kokomlemle, often taking lessons from Alfred Tetteh. Communicating with Sackey demanded more than words; it required rhythm, repetition, and deep mutual trust. Tetteh crafted a visual and gesture-based system tailored to Sackey’s unique needs.
“I don’t know how to do the sign language. He doesn’t do any sign language but what we do is whatever I want him to do, I have to demonstrate it because I’m a former boxer so I’ll do it for him to follow it. If he’s going to fight somebody, what I do is I’ll get the videos of the opponent and study. I teach him about the opponent in training,” Alfred Tetteh revealed.
Sackey has earned the respect of his peers and elders. They view the 25-year-old not as a boxer with a disability, but a fighter with a dream and immense potential.
“It gives me joy that a physically challenged boxer has managed to win this. It encourages others with similar situations to even do better. I think if he works harder, he can become a world champion in the next two or three years,” Kofi Dana, a fellow boxer at the Warriors Gym stated.
With every punch, he shattered expectation. With every round, he rewrote what was possible. He’s not just a champion, he’s a symbol. Not just for the deaf. Not just for the differently abled. But for anyone who’s ever been told they can’t.
In the language of courage and grit, Emmanuel Sackey is fluent and the world is finally listening.
