2023 African Games: How Ghana won four gold medals in boxing

Four Ghanaian amateur boxers delivered gold medals for the country at the 2023 African Games hosted by the country.

The Black Bombers, Ghana’s amateur boxing team, had 16 boxers representing the country at the 13th edition of the African Games.

Four female and 12 male boxers competed in different weight categories for the country. However, out of the 16, only seven boxers were able to deliver medals for the country.

Female boxer Janet Acquah was the first and only woman to win a medal for Ghana in boxing at the games. The 29-year-old picked up a bronze medal after falling short to Algeria’s Mansouri Fatiha in the semi-finals of the women’s 48kg.

Highly rated boxer, Theophilus Kpakpo Allotey, who was tipped for a gold medal, suffered disappointment in the men’s 51kg. Allotey lost his duel to Zambia’s Patrick Chinyemba in the semi-finals and earned himself a bronze medal.

Abubakar Kamoko alias Ambitious Tilapia, who was one of the five boxers who made it to the final, missed out on a gold medal. Tilapia, who is the son of retired boxer, Bukom Banku, lost his bout to Algeria’s Kanouni Ousama. He managed to win a silver medal.

Mohammed Aryeetey

Nicknamed the 'Golden Boy', the young boxer pulled a big surprise on fans as he won gold for the country. Aryeetey, who was making his debut in the national team cleared all the boxers who came his way to break Stephen Dotse’s record which was set in 1991.

The 21-year-old was flawless in the 48kg weight class as he rounded up Zambia’s Nene Maonge in the preliminary stage before earning an unanimous win over Morocco’s Esaadi Hamza in the semis.

He managed to pull off another convincing victory over Livens Tulembekwa of Congo to etch his name in history as a gold medal winner for Ghana at the African Games.

Joseph Commey

At age 20, Joseph Commey has proven to be a boxer with the potential to deliver Ghana an Olympic gold medal. Two years ago, the boxer nicknamed Jaguar won a silver medal for Ghana at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and now has a gold medal from the African Games.

The hard-punching boxer saw off Daoouda Sidibe from Mali and Mordjane Oussama in the quarter and semi-final stages respectively, to set up the final with Zambia’s Andre Chilata. Commey dominated and outpunched Chilata to make his mark as a gold medalist at the African Games.

Amadu Mohammed

Call him the knockout specialist, Amadu knocked out three boxers and only went the full length once in the African Games. Amadu’s journey began with a knockout win over Algeria’s Khalil Litim in the Round of 16.

DR Congo’s, Francis Koyanzili was also no match for him as he knocked him out in the quarterfinal. However, it was Morocco’s Imad Azoui who survived the full length of the semi-final fight but Amadu earned an unanimous win over him.

In the final of the men’s 54kg against Mwale Mwengo of Zambia, Amadu left his opponent wounded as he delivered some power punches, forcing the referee to stop the bout to hand him the gold medal.

Samuel Takyi

The Ring Warrior’s return to Black Bombers was worth it. The 23-year-old who was unable to win a medal in his first attempt at the African Games in 2019, managed to win a golden medal this time around. Takyi stopped his opponent in his first fight and won his second bout against Tunisia’s Dridi Mehdi in the quarterfinals.

South Africa’s Paul John Masamba really stunned Takyi in the semifinal clash. Masamba gave Takyi a knockdown in early rounds of their bout but the Ghanaian responded with two knockdowns to earn himself a 4-1 win. The final against Emmanuel Katema was an easy one for Takyi as he made light work of him with a 5-0 win.

Takyi is now the only Ghanaian boxer to have won a gold medal at the African Games and a Bronze medal at the Olympic Games.

JNA/EK