For a chap who perambulated the nook cranny of Accra's suburbs seeking to foment trouble and engage in free-for-all brawls, boxing came naturally - it was an innate endowment.
Daniel Selassie Gorsh burst into the limelight circa 2018 when a video of the little kid pouring it on a full grown man on the streets of Adabraka in Accra went viral.
Many were amazed and passively intoned the steady drone which resonated and echoed during that time: " The kid ( Gorsh) is a born puncher ".
One didn’t need a prophet to realise that the melanin-clad kid was destined to glow under the bright lights in Las Vegas one day, when he steps to the plate.
Indeed, renown trainer Lawrence Carl Lokko took great delight in Daniel Gorsh from the age of eight. He had quietly started a small boxing academy of what is now the Bronx Boxing Gym - the place where former IBF World Lightweight champion Richard Commey was built from the scratch to World Championship glory.
Included in this little "combat academy" was Emmanuel Quartey, Felix Nunoo, John Abaja Laryea, Stephen. Coffie, Bernard Abbey aka Kenya, Faisal Abubakar and of course Daniel Gorsh, among many others.
Gorsh excelled in major juvenile and amateur tournaments and won the hearts of many.
He turned professional in March 2021; destroying David Okine in two rounds at the Bukom Boxing Arena.
After garnering impressive wins against the likes of George Krampah, Michael Tagoe, Akimos Annan Ampiah and top contender Moses Adjei Selvi - winning the National and UBO Africa Super Bantamweight titles in the process, Gorsh returns to the place where it all began: The picturesque Bukom Boxing Arena, tonight.
It's a date with destiny as Gorsh ( 12-0, 9Kos) has yearned to hasten his comparative tarried march to the world stage. And that's where Jacob Zwennes and Leslie Brown, co-handlers of Gorsh have played a pivotal role in strategically positioning the 24-year-old for the WBO Africa Bantamweight title .
Across the ring tonight and looking to put spokes into Gorsh's wheels would be tough-as-nails Beninois slugger Ghislain Vodounhessi ( 25-2).
Gorsh himself, a heavy handed predator is bent on going for a win and nothing else, " I'm going for a win , that's for sure. If the knockout comes, glory to God. But it's a sure win. This is my time " he said.
Trainer Lawrence Carl Lokko is aware of the challenge ahead, " I've been in such situations several times, so we've worked on his conditioning both physically and psychologically. We're ready to go. This WBO title stays in Ghana " said Coach Lokko who has won more WBO Africa titles than any coach in Ghana or maybe Africa.
The stage is set and the two gladiators are set to collide
But for Daniel Gorsh, destiny beckons.
By Samuel Opoku Amoah.
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