In what is turning out to be an interesting post-fight revelation Ayitey Powers says his spiritual father Bishop T.B. Johsua advised him not to fight on the date.

In an exclusive post bout interview with Joy Sports at the Crystal Rose Hotel, Powers who spoke while receiving treatment from his physiotherapist said, “I’d like to apologize to my father T.B. Joshua who advised me not to fight on the given date. I cannot reveal the reason the Prophet gave me but I have to apologize to him because I went against his word.”

According to Powers (real name Michael Ayitey Okine), Prophet T.B. Joshua knows a lot about him and has given him spiritual guidance over the years.

“The reason why I went contrary to the directive from the man of God was that I did not want a repeat of the back and forth the preceded the maiden bout in Accra last year. I didn’t want to disappoint the fans who had asked for this bout for so many years thus the sacrifice,” he told Joy Sports while receiving a deep tone massage from his physiotherapist.

The maiden edition of this bout which was staged before about 20,000 fans at the Accra Stadium on May 16, 2014 also had it fair share of troubles with two postponements. One of the reasons assigned to one of the postponements was a revelation by Prophet T.B. Joshua that a disaster bigger than May 9, 2001, would happened at the Accra Stadium.

Powers after putting up a better-than-expected performance against Banku in front of about 10,000 fans at the Baba Yara Stadium in the early hours of December 27, 2015, failed to answer the bell for the 6th round.

What was the reason? He suffered a dislocated right shoulder.

Powers sat and leaned with his back firmly on the corner pad as his corner tried to get him to resume the fight. “But the pain was too much. The close to the end of the fight round I felt the dislocation and struggled to finish. It was very painful during the one minute break and my corner tried hard to restore it. I tried hard to overlook it but I couldn’t,” Powers said.

Ayitey Powers, a former national middleweight champion, also revealed that his promoters had also worked out an international bout in the UK against journeyman Jimmy Campbell for January 22, 2016.  

The loss to Bukom Banku (above. pictured) according to him could affect the UK fight. “I’m sad because the UK bout will be a big opportunity for me. I’m not sure if it will still come off, now that I’ve lost,” he added.

Ayittey Powers lost the maiden clash to Banku in a unanimous decision with the score cards of judges Confidence Hiagbe, Roger Barnor and Emmanuel Brenya reading 109-117, 110-119 and 108-120 respectively.

Powers, who was once a contender for the WBC International Middleweight and WBA Pan African Cruiserweight title, also says his career is not over. He was not specific as to when he will return to the ring but is sure he has a lot more to give to the sport. His professional record now stands at 21 wins 25 losses and a draw.

On the Bukom Banku episode, he did not dismiss the possibility of a third bout. “Banku has defeated me twice, he is the champion, but you never know what will happen in the future,” he said. 

Powers has the unenviable record of winning 21 bouts, and lost 24. He's drawn once.  

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