🇹🇭 2nd World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Thailand from May 24 to June 2, 2024
55 AFRICAN BOXERS OUT, 18 LEFT AS BATTLE HOTS UP IN BANGKOK
▫️ Only three winners on the sixth day as nine exit the qualifiers
▫️ Female boxers save Africa from total humiliation
The total number of African boxers eliminated in the Bangkok Olympic qualifiers has risen to 55 following the defeat of nine more on the sixth day, May 29, in Bangkok, Thailand.
Only 18 African boxers are left to fight it out for the 51 quota places available – 28 for men and 23 for women.
Female welterweights, Cape Verde’s Africa champion Ivanusa Moreirara, DR Congo’s Mandela Cup champion Brigitte Mbabi and Sedja Sanogo from Cote d’Ivoire saved the day for Africa by winning their fights to qualify for the round of 16.
Moreira outpointed Mexico’s Gricelda Duran 5-0, Mbabi beat Ukraine’s Anastasiia Chernokolenko 4-0 and Sedja Sanogo of Cote d’Ivoire defeated Tajikistan’s Nilufar Boboyorova 4-1.
Today’s Africa’s nine losers are DRC Congo’s US-based super-heavyweight Gilbert Kabamba beaten 3-2 by Columbia’s Willys Mendoza, Africa super-heavyweight silver medallist Keddy Agnes of the Seychelles lost to Iran’s Rouzbeh Safari, Kenya’s Friza Anyango’s Olympic dream was frozen by Frenchwoman Emilliec Sonvico with a convincing 5-0 points win, Nigeria’s African Games super-heavyweight champion Ifeanyi Onyekwere went down fighting in the 3-2 loss to Ukraine’s Dmytro Lovchynskyi, Mauritius’ double African Games champion Joseph Kennedy St-Pierre was no match for Croatia’s 5-0 points winner Luka Pratjacic at super-heavy, a rude welcome at the big stage for Nigeria’s African Games champion Blessing Oraekwe who lost 5-0 to Armenia’s Ani Hovsepyan in the welterweight division, Morocco’s skipper Abdelhaq Nadir was shown the door by Moldova’s European silver medallist Alexandru Paraschiv through a disqualification in the third round of their light-welterweight bout, Ghana’s African Games champion Joseph Commey was brought down to courtesy of a 5-0 points defeat by Emilio Garcia of the USA and Mozambican Commonwealth Games silver medallist Tiago Muxanga lost 5-0 to Britain’s Lewis Richardson.
Eight African boxers will climb through the ropes for their round of 32 bouts on Thursday, May 30 with East Africans on the verge of missing the Paris Olympics if their remaining two boxers, Kenya’s Peter Abuti and Uganda’s Australia-based Regarn Simbwa, lose their fights. Here’s the schedule:
Heavyweight
Peter Abuti (Kenya) vs Mateusz Bereznicki (Poland)
Ragarn Simbwa (Uganda) vs Koppany Feher (Hungary)
Women’s featherweight
Josefien Betist (Sierra Leone) vs Marie Bathoul (Canada)
Marine Camara (Mali) vs Minerva Montiel (Paraguay)
Men’s flyweight
Franck Mombey (Gabon) vs Ryong So Chon (North Korea)
Hamza Essaandi (Morocco) vs Umayanga Mihirani (Sri Lanka)
David Pina (Cape Verde) vs Tamchun Hin (Hong Kong)
Theo Allotey (Ghana) vs Anvarzhan Khodzhiev (Kyrgyzstan)
📸 Burundi’s Ornella Havyarimana (red attire) takes the fight to Afghanistan’s Lala Kargar whom she beat on points 5-0 to move to the round of 16 in the ongoing final Paris Olympic Games boxing qualifiers in Bangkok, Thailand.
✍🏼 AFBC Communications