Former Minister of Youth and Sports Edwin Nii Lante Vanderpuye has argued that Ghana's boxing icons are better deserving of statues and monuments than outgoing president Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo.

Nii Lantey was speaking on the floor of Parliament as part of a commemorative discussion on the late Clement Ike Quartey.

"All these people passed without any serious notice, but for this august house, celebrating them through a statement nothing, nothing but by this time, we should have monuments, monuments to remember the future generations of the exploits of Ike Quartey Sr., Eddie Blay, Prince Amartey and the rest."

Last month, President Akufo-Addo unveiled a statue in honor of himself on a yet-to-be-completed roundabout at the Effia Nkwanta Hospital in the Western Region.

The Member of Parliament's speech is the latest in what has been widespread criticism that has since occasioned the president's decision to honor himself with the statue.

"And I'd be happy if instead of the President's statue at Effia-Nkwanta roundabout, we have Eddie Blay's statue there to tell people from the Western Region that it's not Ekow Krane alone who exhibited wonders in boxing but there was once an Eddie Blay it's important because these are the things that will make people to be inspired and motivated to also achieve something," he concluded.

Nii Lantey has been a long-term advocate for honoring present and past Ghanaian sportsmen and women, especially boxers.

Eddie Blay, who he mentioned, was a former boxer and a two-time gold medalist at the Commonwealth Games in 1962 in Perth and 1966 in Kingston.

He also won the bronze medal in 1964 in Tokyo. He lived from 1937 to 2006.

Prince Amartey, the other legend on the list, won a bronze medal in the middleweight division at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. He previously shared the podium with USA's Marvin Johnson. At the 1968 Summer Olympics, he competed in the light middleweight class.