A 20-year-old Ghanaian Boxer, Samuel Takyi, registered a superb comeback at the ongoing Tokyo Olympic games, after losing round 1 to Colombia’s David Avila Ceiber in the featherweight fight to secure a 3-2 split decision victory in the early hours of today, Sunday, August 1, 2021, ending Ghana’s 29-year medal drought in the Olympic games.
The victory means that boxer Samuel Takyi has guaranteed himself at least a bronze medal to secure Ghana’s first Olympic medal since the men’s football team won bronze at the 1992 Games in Barcelona.
After a faulty start, the young Ghanaian boxer capitalized on his long reach to outclass his opponent who was also determined to reach at least the medal zone. The Ghanaian trailed his opponent on all the judge’s scorecards going into the last round but he rallied to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat against the two-time Olympian.
Meanwhile, the victory today means that Takyi has now beaten two South Americans after defeating Ecuador’s Carlos Caicedo in the round of 16 in a bout that he dominated from start to finish.
Black Bombers
The young boxer knowing well that he was the only hope for his country after two of his compatriots exited the competition, left no stone unturned to salvage the image of the West African country that was heading towards a-three-decade medal drought in the Olympic games.
With Takyi already guaranteed a medal after today’s victory, he sets up another fascinating bout on Tuesday with one of the talented American young boxers, Duke Ragan in the semi-finals. Should the young Ghanaian replicate his performance today, he will be guaranteed a silver medal regardless of what happens in the final. Meanwhile, the young Ghanaian is only two wins away to become the first Ghanaian in the history of the Olympic games to clinch a gold medal.
Black Bombers skipper, Sulemana Tetteh, and another team member, Shakul Samed, have already been eliminated in their respective bouts, which left Takyi to shoulder the burden of ensuring Ghana did not end the games empty handed. His victory sparked jubilation among officials and other members of the Ghanaian contingent in Tokyo.
Ghana’s Olympic performance
So far, Ghana has won more medals in Boxing than any other sporting discipline in the history of the Olympic games. As such, the young star’s performance at the ongoing Olympics puts his name in the hall of fame of boxers who have won medals for the country.
Specifically, Samuel Takyi became the fourth boxer to reach the medal zone of the Olympic games after Clement Quartey won silver at the 1960 Olympics and a Bronze medal by Eddie Blay at the 1964 Olympics. Prince Amartey won Ghana’s last boxing Bronze Olympic medal in the 1972 Olympic games in Munich, Germany. Since then, Ghana, home to numerous boxing talents in Africa and the world at large, is yet to grab another medal at the Olympics.
On a whole, team Ghana’s performance at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics hasn’t lived up to expectations, but to some people, it is as expected since the country fails to invest in its athletes. For now, the only hope left apart from Takyi’s boxing medal is athletics where Ghana will compete in the 4x100M and the 200M after renounced sprinter, Benjamin Azamati failed to progress in the men’s 100M heats yesterday.
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