Michael Boapeah who was born to Ghanaian parents in The Hague, Netherlands started his kickboxing career at the age of 15, and he is already a household name in the middleweight division of GLORY98.
Glory98 is a global leader in kickboxing and home to the most talented stand-up fighters in the world.
The 24-year-old destroyed Moroccan Ibrahim El Bouni on the main card of Glory 98 on (23 February) on his debut in the light heavyweight in the sold-out RTM Stage in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Boapeah would finish him off by dropping him a fourth time, forcing the referee to rule the bout a TKO due to the four-knockdown rule.
Many questioned his decision to fight in a division above his level and speaking to Asaasesports, Michael said “It was like a new weight class. I used to fight at 85kg and now I fight at 95kg that’s like 10 kilos more than normal.
“So, a lot of people were telling me, I’m crazy, It was like a lot of people were against me. But, I’m a guy.!
“I have so much belief in myself. When I finished the fight, I was screaming, because, of the feeling like you that you doubt. You guys doubted me. Look at me now”.
Michael acknowledges his breakthrough and popularity but he believes it’s a motivation for the young ones.
“It gives me a good feeling because when I’m going to the shop or going somewhere, people ask me, Can I take a picture? Can I do this with you? So you can give small boys motivation.”
Michael started playing football during childhood but it was his belligerence at school that led his mother to suggest combat sports to him.
“I was a stubborn guy, I always gave my mom and my father too much headache. I really loved fighting at school, being aggressive, you know, I also played football before, but I was so aggressive on the pitch.
“They will give me a red card, they will give me a yellow card, it didn’t fit. But as a young, young boy, when I was two, three years old, my mom always told me, when I beat her back sometimes, as a young kid, she was like, Hey, how are you so small but your punch is painful.”
“I stopped football and I went into kickboxing. The first time I did it, I knew, that yes this is for me”
“Sometimes you have a feeling like, Yeah, I like this, this is for me. And I always had in my head, I have to be champion.”
The 24-year-old is ranked number 1 on Glory kickboxing with 20 wins, 1 defeat, and 4 draws with 8 knockouts and he attributes that to self-belief and determination.
“I think it’s also the hunger, what I have in me, the will to be successful, the will to give yourself a better life. I think that is where my determination comes from. So now it’s one week after my fight.
A lot of people after they fight, after three weeks are not going to train. After two days, I went to train again. Because I know in my head I’m not there yet what I want.”
“I think the determination comes from just wanting to be someone, to be successful.”
Despite being born and raised in the Netherlands, Michael appreciates his roots in Ghana and acknowledges his home country in the ring.
“I always try to let everybody know, I was born and raised in the Netherlands, but I’m a Ghanaian.”
“Everything, I have, the willpower, the will to do something, the strength is from Ghana.”
“So I always try to show everybody that I’m a Ghanaian. When I fight, my flag is Ghana, you know, I work with the Ghana flag proudly.”
On 4 November 2023, Boapeah lost to the Glory Middleweight Championship, Donovan Wisse (Surinamese-Dutch), in a bout he expected to become the new champion after the initial fight was rescheduled.
Michael was expected to challenge Donovan Wisse for the title on October 7, 2023. Wisse withdrew from the bout, with an illness, on August 31. He identified that defeat as the setback of his career but he’s managed to bounce back.
“Two years ago, I thought my dream would come true as being a champion. So I faced the champion of my division (Donovan Wisse), and sadly, I lost the fight, and that fight against so much experience out of one fight.”
“I learned so much out of that fight, because I was painful., you’re like, this close to letting your dream come true, like this close at, 23 years old and this close to being one of the youngest champions of the world, and then losing it. I was crying in my bed for more than 4 days.
“But I think sometimes we have to lose to gain experience, to get even more power, get even more will, and after that fight, now I have like a four-win four times winning streak.”
Michael’s goals of winning a title this year and bringing glory to Ghana remain intact:
“I will keep on giving this these guys paying when they come in my lane, you know when they come in the ring. So I will always try to do my best, more than my best, even, if I have to die in the ring, I will die in the ring,
“I will do everything, that’s in my power to win. And then, yes, then I will bring the bell to Ghana also this year.”
Boapeah also plans to give back by opening gyms in Ghana and the Netherlands.
“For now, I’m really focusing on my sport, but I think later, when everything goes well, I will want to, give something back to the people.”
“Maybe I will open a gym in Ghana, here in the Netherlands. Like some people from other gyms, from other places, they call me, they asked me to give workshops, give the boys and girls Vim, and give them, like, my experience of life.”
Michael has had an impressive start to his career and on his way to greatness but now it’s all about the sport and making a living.
