▪️ Ndevelo misses gold after a heartbreaking split decision loss
▪️Namibian coach Lungameni cries foul wondering how Ndevelo lost yet the scorecard shows he won
▪️Africa’s ring performance dips; fails to match Birmingham 2022
August 2, 2026
Africa’s boxing campaign at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games concluded with a bittersweet tally of one silver and eight bronze medals, exposing a massive structural divide between raw talent and elite execution.
Namibia’s African featherweight champion Tryagain Ndevelo secured the continent’s lone silver in the lightweight division, falling just short in a razor-thin 3-2 split decision against India’s Sachin Sachin.
Trailing early, the Indian boxer engineered a dramatic late comeback, forcing a decisive standing count on Ndevelo in the closing seconds of the final round.
Namibia’s coach Lungameni Ipundaka however disputed the decision, arguing the scorecard shows two judges gave it to Ndevelo at 29-27, one judge for Sachin 29-27 and two judges scored it a draw 28-28 apiece.
“I just don’t understand how we lost because the scorecard is showing that we are ahead on points, how did they decide the Indian boxer won that fight?,” Lungameni wondered aloud in an interview with boxersworld.co.ke
Despite missing out on the gold, Namibia topped the African boxing charts at the Games with one silver and two bronze followed by joint runners-up Zambia and Lesotho 0-0-2 and joint third Mauritius and Ghana at 0-0-1.
Namibia’s Mischa Monique Araes, the nation’s first female boxing Commonwealth Games medallist, and Philip Pumulo Haoseb were the two bronze winners.
Ghana’s campaign was highlighted by Amadu Mohammed securing a bronze medal in the men’s 55kg division.
Compared to 2022 Birmingham’s seven silver and 12 bronze medals, Africa’s performance dipped in Glasgow with only one silver and eight bronze medals. This underscored a stark regression for the continent.
A total 32 African boxers slugged it out in the quarter-finals with 23 eliminated. Nine advanced to the semi-finals and only one featured in the finals.
While questionable officiating drew frustrations in several early bouts, the reality is that most African fighters were soundly outclassed by technically superior and well exposed opponents from Great Britain, India Canada, and Australia.
The continent possesses immense boxing potential, but a chronic lack of sponsorship and funding occasioned by non-committed support from respective governments continues to kill its competitive edge.
Europe and Asia boast packed boxing calendars that guarantee continuous tournament exposure, while the African competitive calendar remains virtually non-existent. Calls to build a busier local circuit face a harsh economic paradox: even if Africa successfully hosted multiple events, cash-strapped governments simply cannot afford to fund regular athlete travel and attendance, leaving African boxers chronically isolated from the global standard.
Way forward: African governments must increase their funding to boxing, have proper structures with emphasis on junior and youth boxing, introduce prize money events locally and expose their boxers in some of the major tournaments abroad.
