Black Bombers fail to qualify for 2016 Olympics

Ghana’s dream of a boxing medal at the 2016 Olympics were dashed on Saturday as welterweight Azumah Mohameed lost to Algeria’s Kedache Zohir by unanimous decision.

Mohameed represented Ghana’s final hope at the AIBA All-Olympic Qualifiers in Yaounde, Morocco. He and countryman Abdul Wahid Omar were the only Ghanaians to reach the semi-finals. Both would lose in that round but a fight-off for third place allotted each another opportunity to qualify for the summer games. Omar would go on to lose to Morocco’s Mohammed Hamout. 24 hours later, Mohameed followed suit.

The loss is a devastating one for a country that carries a storied history in the sweet science. It’s also unsurprising given the lack of assistance and support for the Black Bombers.

A wake-up call perhaps?