# Joseph Bessala

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**Joseph Bessala** (1 January 1941 – 25 April 2010) was a [welterweight](/source/Welterweight) [boxer](/source/Boxing) from [Cameroon](/source/Cameroon).

## Amateur

In 1965, Bessala won the [All-Africa Games](/source/1965_All-Africa_Games) in [Brazzaville](/source/Brazzaville), [Republic of the Congo](/source/Republic_of_the_Congo). He twice won the African Championships in welterweight: in 1966 in Lagos, Nigeria, (prevailing over [Ghanaian](/source/Ghana), [Eddie Blay](/source/Eddie_Blay) in the final) and 1968 in Lusaka, [Zambia](/source/Zambia), where he prevailed in the final fight over the Zambian, [Julius Luipa](/source/Julius_Luipa), whom he beat again at the [Olympic Games](/source/Olympic_Games). He won the silver medal at the [1968 Olympic Games](/source/1968_Summer_Olympics) in Mexico City. In the final, he lost to [East Germany's](/source/German_Democratic_Republic) [Manfred Wolke](/source/Manfred_Wolke).

### Amateur highlights

- **1965** won the All-Africa Games in Brazzaville, Congo. Beat in the final [Issake Dabore](/source/Issake_Dabore) (Niger) by TKO-2.
- **1966** won the African Championships in Lagos, Nigeria. Beat [Eddie Blay](/source/Eddie_Blay) (Ghana) in the final.
- **1968** won the African Championships in Lusaka, Zambia. Beat [Julius Luipa](/source/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](/source/Luis_Gonzales) (Chile) on points, 5–0
- Round of 16: defeated [Julius Luipa](/source/Julius_Luipa) (Zambia) by a second-round knockout
- Quarterfinal: defeated [Victor Zilberman](/source/Victor_Zilberman) (Romania) by a third-round technical knockout
- Semifinal: defeated [Mario Guilloti](/source/Mario_Guilloti) (Argentina) on points, 5–0
- Final: lost to [Manfred Wolke](/source/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](/source/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 [Eddie Blay](/source/Eddie_Blay) from [Ghana](/source/Ghana), who had won the bronze medal in the class of [super lightweight](/source/Super_lightweight) in 1964, gained Bessala the African title in the welterweight class. The title was taken from him by [Salem Ouedraogo](/source/Salem_Ouedraogo) from the [Côte d'Ivoire](/source/C%C3%B4te_d'Ivoire) in January 1976. After a longer break, Bessala gained back the African title from his fellow countryman, [Bechir Boundka](/source/Bechir_Boundka) in June 1978. He aimed to defend this title again in his 16th fight, but [Mimoun Mohatar](/source/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](https://web.archive.org/web/20120227121951/http://www.crtv.cm/cont/nouvelles/nouvelles_sola_fr.php?idField=6745&table=nouvelles&sub=societe)
- [Joseph Bessala's profile at Sports Reference.com](https://web.archive.org/web/20200417121930/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/be/joseph-bessala-1.html)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Joseph Bessala](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Bessala) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Bessala?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.