From Riches to Rags: The Heart-breaking Story of Nana Yaw Konadu, Forgotten World Boxing Champion

YenSept 22, 2025Read original

On Friday, March 28, 2025, YEN.com.gh's Gariba Raubil made a five-hour journey from Kumasi to Sunyani in the Bono region of Ghana to meet a man whose name once sent shivers across the boxing world.

Nana Yaw Konadu, famously nicknamed “Marvelous,” was a two-time world boxing champion whose fists spoke louder than words. He was Ghana’s pride, a warrior who went toe-to-toe with the very best of his era.

Yet as I stood with him in the heart of Sunyani, far removed from the glittering arenas of Mexico City and Tampa, I could see how time and circumstance had reduced him to a shadow of his former self.

The sparkle that once drew Donald 'Don' King himself into his corner now flickers faintly. Konadu is no longer the man who stood tall on the world stage, he is a man grappling with survival.

Nana Yaw Konadu’s story is one of resilience, grit, and raw determination. Born and raised in Sunyani, a town celebrated more for football than for boxing, his childhood was marred by poverty.

His parents could not afford to pay his school fees, and before long, Konadu found himself dropping out of school and hustling on the streets.

“I was a school dropout. Life was so hard. I pushed trucks, sold doughnuts, anything I could find just to survive. I was left with no choice than to figure out it all myslef. You know how challenging life can be for a poor kid. That was my story.” Yaw Konadu said, his eyes glazed with painful memories.

His fortunes began to shift when Coach Salami, a respected trainer in the Ghanaian boxing circuit, spotted his raw potential. Under Salami’s guidance, Konadu’s fists became weapons of precision and power.

Thanks to another top coach, Baba Sumaila, who would eventually be Konadu's head coach during his entire professional career, the Sunyani-born fighter was quickly drafted into Ghana’s national boxing team, where his rise was nothing short of meteoric.

Turning professional in 1984, the powerful pugilist climbed the ranks with ferocity.

On November 7, 1989, at the Arena Mexico in Mexico City, Yaw Konadu stunned the world by defeating the legendary Gilberto Roman to win his first WBC Super Flyweight title.

In that moment, a boy from Sunyani who once hawked doughnuts became Ghana’s newest boxing icon.

The world took notice, and so did Don King, the flamboyant promoter who had managed the likes of Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield. King saw in Konadu a diamond in the rough.

He smiled faintly as he recalled meeting King, the boxing figure whose wild hair and larger-than-life persona matched the audacity of his promise: five test fights before a world title — a promise Konadu shattered after just one.

''When I met Don King, he said he had been looking for me for a long time. He promised me five test fights before getting me a world title bout, but after just one that I brushed aside , he told me: ‘My goodness! Forget the rest. You’re ready for a world title.'' Konadu narrated.

And 'Marvelous' proved Don King right. On January 29, 1996, in Thailand, he defeated Veeraphol Sahaprom to claim his second world title - the WBA Bantamweight title, as cited by Cyber Boxing Zone .

Yaw Konadu was living the dream, a symbol of Ghanaian pride, and a reminder that greatness could spring from anywhere, even from Sunyani’s dusty streets.

Konadu’s name belongs in the pantheon of Ghanaian boxing greats alongside

, Ike Quartey, and Joseph Agbeko.

According to

, he fought 47 times in his professional career, winning 41 bouts, 32 by knockout, and losing just five.

Yet his legacy carries a unique distinction: of the ten Ghanaians who have won world titles, he remains the only one who did not hail from

, Ghana’s boxing hub. His rise was against all odds.

But like so many athletes of his generation, Konadu’s fall from glory has been brutal. The millions of dollars that once flowed through his career have long dried up.

Today, he earns a modest income working with the National Sports Council in Sunyani. On match days, he is often seen manning the gates of the Sunyani Coronation Park, checking tickets for football fans, an image that jars painfully against the memory of him lifting world championship belts.

“It is what it is now. There is nothing I can do. Sometimes fate throws things like this at you and see how you react. So, I am very calm” he muttered as we walked around the stadium.

“This is not the life I imagined but I still believe in my creator. As I still have my life, there is always hope for me. I never lose hope. I am fighter”

The scars are not only financial but personal too. Konadu’s marriage to one Shantel, a woman he met during training in Accra, ended in divorce.

Together they had two sons, one now a company worker and the other employed at British Airways at Kotoka International Airport.

They provide him with emotional comfort, but the weight of disappointment lingers, as he confirms writing to the WBA and WBC seeking assistance.

“I have even written to the WBC and WBA to seek assistance, but I’ve had no response. I don’t even know the proper way to reach them anymore. As I told you, I have two boys who are away from me. They both work in Accra, and for now I am not married. I live alone.'' he confessed.

His words carried a chilling undertone: has his country and the sport that gave him everything left him to face his struggles alone?

To be honest, there is something profoundly tragic about watching a hero fade into obscurity, abandoned by the very system that once celebrated him.

Konadu’s plight mirrors a painful reality in African sport: athletes often give their

and health to bring glory to their nations, only to be discarded when the applause fades.

Many former Black Stars players voiced such concerns before their passing, among them the legendary Kwasi Owusu, another great son of Bono.

And yet, there is still a spark in 'Marvelous' Nana Yaw Konadu. Despite his hardships, he speaks with pride about his accomplishments and the fact that he opened doors for others.

“I came from Sunyani, where boxing was unknown, and I proved that it could be done. When I look back and realise what I achieved as a boy from a poor home, I always thank God regardless of my current status” he said, his voice rising with a defiant tone.

Recently, when

defeated Canelo Álvarez at the Allegiant Stadium in Nevada on September 3, his triumph carried a unique edge because he hails from Omaha, a city in the United States rarely associated with producing

.

Yet fate chose Crawford to rise from there, just as it did for Nana Yaw Konadu, who was born and raised in Sunyani, proving once more that greatness often emerges from the most unlikely of places.

But Yaw Konadu's current reality is a sobering lesson.

must confront how it treats its heroes.

Across the globe, Muhammad Ali’s name still echoes through generations, and Mike Tyson, despite his turbulent past, remains a global icon, celebrated and immortalised.

Yet here in Ghana, a man who twice lifted the world on his shoulders, and brought the world’s attention to Ghanaian boxing, now mans stadium gates just to survive.

If a champion of Konadu’s calibre can be forgotten so easily, what hope exists for today’s generation of athletes?”

As I left Sunyani that evening, I carried with me more than just an interview. I carried the heavy truth of a man whose fists once conquered the world but now wrestle with despair.

He may not hear the roar of crowds anymore, but in the quiet corners of Sunyani, the ‘Marvelous One’ still fights, this time, not for belts, but for dignity.