Michael Amoo Bediako Criticizes Ghanaian Boxing Authorities for Olympic Failure

Bankroller of boxing promotion firm, Streetwise Foundation and Management, Michael Amoo Bediako, has launched a scathing attack on Ghanaian boxing authorities on the country’s failure to qualify any boxer for the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

He described as “criminal” Ghana’s inability to produce any boxer for the Olympics, demanding immediate changes to leadership to help address challenges confronting amateur boxing.

No Ghanaian boxer qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games after the Black Bombers missed out on securing a spot during the recent World Olympic Qualifiers in Bangkok, Thailand in June 2024. Despite the participation of seven boxers, including one female, none managed to turn their Olympic aspirations into reality.

The development came as a shock to the sporting fraternity, especially boxing enthusiasts, as boxing has given Ghana four medals at the Olympic Games from the five medals the country has secured in the competition’s history.

In an interview with the YouTube channel Fight Talk Africa, the UK-based Ghanaian boxing promoter and former manager of Richard Commey, expressed disdain with this setback as he believes it doesn’t speak well of the sport.

“I was devastated [when no boxer qualified]. We should do better, we need to do better,” said Micheal Amoo Bediako.

“These are the future of Ghana boxing, the amateurs. If you look around the world, a lot of countries invest heavily in their amateur programs, and these become professional boxers to raise the flags of their countries around the world.

“But as to not having any boxer qualifying, it’s criminal! That means fundamentally we are doing something wrong so we have to look at how this came about and fix it.

“We can’t keep going on the same way and expect every 30 years to get us a bronze medal, it’s not good enough.

“So when we have no boxer competing in the Olympics, then maybe changes are needed, whether a change of personnel, whether a change of tactics, whether a change of investment are needed to have our boxers qualifying for some of these international events,” he lamented.

At the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Ghana secured a bronze medal through boxing, Ghana’s first Olympic medal in nearly 30 years, thanks to Samuel Takyi.