Rise and Fall of Light Heavyweight Braimah Kamoko (Bukom Bantu)
Editorial By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
He was once 29-0, and world light heavyweight title shots were available. For Braimah Kamoko, also known as Bukom Bantu, of Accra, Ghana, a bright shining star, the world plummeted into an abyss.
What happened to the career of Braimah Kamoko? In boxing, and in amateur and professional sports, careers often do rise and fall. 25-0 Lucas Browne went down to Dillian Whyte by knockout loss last weekend, ex-world heavyweight champion Browne is hardly the only unbeaten fighter to lose in 2018. The riddle is why does a consistently winning fighter lose all of a sudden when the world championship is seemingly on the horizon?
With only one bout between 2013 and 2014 (a one-year gap), and only one bout between 2014 and 2015 (an 18-month gap), Kamoko lost to one of boxing’s greatest weaknesses-inactivity. By the time Kamoko returned to the ring 22 months later to face unbeaten Bastie Samir at Bukom Boxing Arena in Accra, Kamoko was overweight, had not faced a fighter with a winning record in four years, and had not held a regional title in five years. Inactive and ill-prepared, Kamoko was an easy target for Samir, who decked him and stopped him in only seven rounds of a scheduled 12. Kamoko, who will turn 38 years old in June 2018, is not beyond reach of a comeback, but it should be as a light heavyweight, not as a heavyweight or cruiserweight as he ballooned up to.
Inactivity remains Kamoko’s worst enemy, and like many other great fighters, inactivity turned his skills into memories. Kamoko at one time held the African and WBO African Light Heavyweight and Cruiserweight titles. Unfortunately, careers cannot wait forever, and many names become forgotten in the boxing sands of time.