Sulley Shitu: Meet the retired Ghanaian boxer mentioned by Alban Bagbin during MPs’ reprimand

“How many of you are old enough to remember the boxer Sulley Shitu? He was a brilliant fighter, very slippery, light, and nimble-footed. He thought he was strong.

“One blow from a middleweight, and he flew so far that he never woke up. That was the end of his boxing,” Bagbin remarked, obviously cautioning the house to refrain from chaos as he addressed the violence that erupted during the Appointments Committee sitting on Thursday, January 30, 2025.

But who is Sulley Shitu, and what’s his story?

Born on April 15, 1946, in Koforidua, Sulley Shitu was a Ghanaian amateur flyweight and bantamweight boxer who later turned professional, competing in the 1960s and 1970s.

As an amateur, Shitu represented Ghana in the flyweight category at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, where he lost to John McCafferty of Ireland.

However, he won a silver medal at the 1965 African Games in Brazzaville and secured a gold medal in the flyweight division at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica.

He later moved up to the bantamweight category, representing Ghana at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, where he lost to Horst Rascher of West Germany.

Shitu went on to win another gold medal in bantamweight boxing at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland.

As a professional, Shitu fought 36 times, winning 34 bouts—20 by knockout—and losing only twice.

He claimed both the African Boxing Union (ABU) bantamweight title and the Commonwealth bantamweight title, solidifying his place in Ghana’s boxing history.