We must always put our athletes first; that is the surest way to ensure that they also compete to win and become first – Ampofo Ankrah

Ghanaian boxer Amadu Mohammed secured a hard earned bronze medal in the men’s 55kg boxing event at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland . I still believe he should have won the ultimate gold but to be fair, we let him down.

The impressive run of the young southpaw boxer came to an end after a closely contested bout against Australia’s Jye Dixon, who went on to claim the god in the final.

MY CLOSE ENCOUNTER WITH AMADU 🥊

I arrived in Glasgow on the eve of the semi final fight between Amadu and the highly rated Australian Jye Dixon.

At the team hotel, I had a good sit down with Anadu as he opened up for over half an hour.

Amadu said he was very confident of victory. He only briefly and vaguely complained about the difficulties he and his team mates were facing. He could have made that an excuse but he did not.

His sole aim was to make Ghana proud notwithstanding what I later got to learn were unacceptable distractions and frustrations.

The fight itself was a fiercely contested and exciting affair.

Amadu took the first round on all the scoresheets quite convincingly.

The second round was a bit closer, and then in round three, the Aussie may have just edged it.

Although the verdict against the Ghanaian was disappointing, it was not entirely surprising that the Australian was declared the winner.

A pattern has emerged (rightly so) , that clearly favours more endowed and clearly better prepared Commonwealth nations. We must simply join that bandwagon.

For Amadu, the colour of his medal may not be gold, but his outstanding flair stood out with his grit, determination, poise and conviction that one day he will win gold and become a world champion for Ghana.