1965 won the All-Africa Games in Brazzaville, Congo. Beat in the final Issake Dabore (Nigeria) by TKO-2.
1966 won the African Championships in Lagos, Nigeria. Beat Eddie Blay (Ghana) in the final.
1968 won the African Championships in Lusaka, Zambia. Beat 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 (Chile) on points, 5-0
Round of 16: defeated Julius Luipa (Zambia) by a second-round knockout
Quarterfinal: defeated Victor Zilberman (Romania) by a third-round technical knockout
Semifinal: defeated Mario Guilloti (Argentina) on points, 5-0
Final: lost to 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 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 from Ghana, who had won the bronze medal in the class of super lightweight in 1964, gained Bessala the African title in the welterweight class. The title was taken from him by Salem Ouedraogo from the Côte d'Ivoire in January 1976. After a longer break, Bessala gained back the African title from his fellow countryman, Bechir Boundka in June 1978. He aimed to defend this title again in his 16th fight, but Mimoun Mohatar from Morocco knocked him out in the 12th round in December 1978. Bessala retired from boxing shortly thereafter.
