Joseph Bessala (1 January 1941 – 25 April 2010) was a

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term ''welterweight'' was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify th ...

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: *Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing * Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

from

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

Amateur

In 1965, Bessala won the

All-Africa Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa and the ...

Brazzaville Brazzaville () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Republic of the Congo. Administratively, it is a Departments of the Republic of the Congo, department and a Communes of the Republic of the Congo, commune. Constituting t ...

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...

. He twice won the African Championships in welterweight: in 1966 in Lagos, Nigeria, (prevailing over

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

ian,

Eddie Blay Edward Blay (9 November 1937 – 15 October 2006) was a Ghanaian boxer. He competed at the 1960 and 1964 Olympics and won a bronze medal in the light welterweight (63.5 kg) category in 1964. Blay was a two-time Commonwealth Games champion, ...

in the final) and 1968 in Lusaka,

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

, where he prevailed in the final fight over the Zambian, Julius Luipa, whom he beat again at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. He won the silver medal at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. In the final, he lost to East Germany's Manfred Wolke.

Amateur highlights

*1965 won the All-Africa Games in Brazzaville, Congo. Beat in the final Issake Dabore (Niger) by TKO-2. *1966 won the African Championships in Lagos, Nigeria. Beat

(Ghana) in the final. *1968 won the African Championships in Lusaka, Zambia. Beat Julius Luipa (Zambia) in the final.

1968 Olympic results

Below are the results of Joseph Bessala, a welterweight boxer from Cameroon, who competed at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics: * Round of 64: bye * Round of 32: defeated

Luis Gonzales Luis Franco Mercado (June 21, 1928 – March 15, 2012) also known as Luis Gonzales, was a Filipino actor who appeared in more than 100 films during his career, most of them by Sampaguita Pictures. He worked with various celebrities such as Lol ...

(Chile) on points, 5–0 * Round of 16: defeated Julius Luipa (Zambia) by a second-round knockout * Quarterfinal: defeated

Victor Zilberman Victor Zilberman (born 20 September 1947) is a retired boxer from Romania. He competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1968 (Mexico City). He also won 8 national senior titles and two silver medals at the European Amateur Boxing ...

(Romania) by a third-round technical knockout * Semifinal: defeated Mario Guilloti (Argentina) on points, 5–0 * Final: lost to Manfred Wolke (East Germany) on points, 1-4 (was awarded silver medal)

Professional

In October, Bessala started his professional career with a victory, where he defeated the Belgium's Jean-Pierre Heirmann with a first-round technical knockout. Six victories, one draw, and yet another five victories followed. In November 1974, the last victory over

from

, who had won the bronze medal in the class of

super lightweight Light welterweight, also known as junior welterweight or super lightweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional boxing In professional boxing, light welterweight is contested between the lightweight and welterweight divisions, ...

in 1964, gained Bessala the African title in the welterweight class. The title was taken from him by Salem Ouedraogo from the

Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest city and ...

in January 1976. After a longer break, Bessala gained back the African title from his fellow countryman, Bechir Boundka in June 1978. He aimed to defend this title again in his 16th fight, but Mimoun Mohatar from Morocco knocked him out in the 12th round in December 1978. Bessala retired from boxing shortly thereafter.

References

*
Joseph Bessala's obituary
1941 births 2010 deaths Boxers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Olympic boxers for Cameroon Olympic silver medalists for Cameroon Sportspeople from Douala Olympic medalists in boxing Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Cameroonian male boxers African Games gold medalists for Cameroon African Games gold medalists in boxing Boxers at the 1965 All-Africa Games Welterweight boxers African Boxing Union champions 20th-century Cameroonian sportsmen {{Cameroon-boxing-bio-stub