In 1965, Bessala won the All-Africa Games in Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo. He twice won the African Championships in welterweight: in 1966 in Lagos, Nigeria, (prevailing over Ghanaian, Eddie Blay in the final) and 1968 in Lusaka, Zambia, where he prevailed in the final fight over the Zambian, Julius Luipa, whom he beat again at the Olympic Games. He won the silver medal at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. In the final, he was lost to East Germany's Manfred Wolke.