WHEN Abigail Kwartekaa Quartey decided as a teenager to become a professional boxer – an unusual choice for a young woman in a working-class neighbourhood of Ghana’s capital of Accra – her family begged her to stop training.

Boxing is the pride of Jamestown, which is based around the fishing industry and also known for being home to many boxing stars. But like most sports in Ghana, boxing has often been seen as for men only, and women are discouraged from taking part.

But Quartey persisted.