ACCRA (Reuters) - It was an innocuous blow for such a monumental moment, a glance to his opponent's armpit as the bell rang. But it was enough. Samuel Takyi lifted his red boxing gloves in victory: he had clinched Ghana's first Olympic bronze medal in 29 years.

Takyi, 20, has been well known for years in the narrow alleys and rundown gyms of Jamestown, the historic neighbourhood of Ghana's capital Accra whose passion for boxing has produced five of the West African country's six world champions.