Ghanaian professional boxer, Samuel has said he was motivated by negative reactions prior to the Olympics Games.
The then amateur boxer stated that Ghanaians were not having hope in the team that participated at the competition but he was able to shine based on that negative mindsets and comments.
Samuel Takyi was the only Ghanian boxer to secure a bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in spite defeat to classy Team USA boxer Duke Ragan in the semi-final.
He joins the pantheon of Ghanaian Olympic boxing greats Clement Quartey, a light welterweight who won silver in Rome 1960, Eddie Blay a bronze light welterweight medallist from Tokyo 1964 and Prince Amartey who made history in Munch 1972.
In the preliminary round of 32 the young boxer received a bye, and was then drawn against Ecuador’s Jean Carlos Caicedo in his round of 16 bout.
Too good for Caicedo, a unanimous decision took Takyi to the quarter-finals.
There he met Colombia’s 32-year-old southpaw David Ceiber Avila, taking two of three rounds against the more experienced fighter.
Ceiber Avila was eliminated at Rio 2016 before the medal rounds and was all out to make it count in Tokyo, a tenacious puncher that tested Takyi to the limit.
The Ghanaian bounced back from a first-round rout to win the final two, guaranteeing him at least a bronze medal and sparking off celebrations at home.
Duke Ragan was a step too far for Ghana’s rising star as he boxed for a shot at gold, but now he has a platform to build on, at 20 years of age he’s tall and slender, expect him to fill out and fight in heavier weight divisions in the future, with plenty of raw talent to develop.
And now after proving that he has something special, Takyi has disclosed what backed him for glory.
“First of all, is by God’s grace. Before the Olympics people were saying a lot. I was motivated by the negative reactions after we were chosen. They were saying we were going to disgrace ourselves but I didn’t give up. Those people were behind my success at the Olympics.”
The talented boxer opened up on Accra-based Atinka Tv’s Kick-Off Sports with King Akuffo.
