Black Bombers break 33-year jinx with four gold medals
Algerian Ousama Kanouni dented Ghana's hope of acquiring a quintet of gold medals on the final night of boxing when he beat crowd favourite Abubakar Kamoko via a unanimous points decision in the gold medal bout of the men's 86kg division at the Bukom Boxing Arena last Friday.
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Before his loss, Ghana's Black Bombers were on course for a clean sweep as four boxers won gold medals ahead of Abubakar Kamoko's encounter.
However, in front of a capacity crowd, including his famous father, Braimah Kamoko (Bukom Banku), the Ghanaian was dominated by his Algerian opponent, as the local favourite, nicknamed 'Ambitious Tilapia' failed to reproduce the brave display which earned him a victory in the semi-final.
Despite that setback suffered by Kamoko, last Friday turned out to be a golden night for the Ghanaian team and a fitting end to the boxing competition.
Determined to break the gold medal drought, since the 1991 African Games, Mohammed Aryeetey set the Black Bombers on course when he defeated his Congolese opponent, Livens Zola Tulembekwa, via a unanimous points decision in the final of the Minimumweight (48kg) class.
It turned into a gold rush as Joseph Commey defeated Zambian Andrew Chilata in the final of the 60kg category for Ghana's second gold medal, followed by a technical knockout (TKO) victory by Mohammed Amadu, who stopped Zambia's Mwengo Mwale in the final of the men's 54kg division for Ghana's third gold in boxing.
Olympics bronze medallist Samuel Takyi lived up to his promise by dominating Zambia's Emmanuel Katema for a unanimous points victory and a fourth gold for the Black Bombers.
Of the three female boxers (Black Hitters), who represented Ghana, Janet Acquah was the sole medallist as she won bronze in the minimum weight (48kg) category. Her feat was also historic as the country's first-ever female boxing medallist in African Games history.
In all, the 13-member Black Bombers won four gold, one silver and two bronzes, with nine failing to get to the medal zone.
Ghana finished in third position in boxing behind Nigeria and Algeria, which had four gold, two silver and five bronze medals.
