🇿🇦 Mandela African Boxing Cup Tournament in Durban, South Africa, April 15-21
MANDELA AFRICAN BOXING CUP: 23 QUARTER-FINAL BOUTS TODAY
▫️Favourites DR Congo have six boxers in action, South Africa and Mauritius five each and Botswana four
▫️Botswana’s head coach Thebe Setlalekgosi speaks highly of the Mandela tournament_
DR Congo, the red-hot favourites to win the inaugural Mandela African Boxing Cup tournament, have six boxers in tonight’s 23-bout quarter-finals card.
Leading the quest for glory for the Central Africans are their dangerous hitmen, Africa light-middleweight champion Mbiya Kulenguka, Africa gold and silver middleweight medallist David Tshama and their punching machine Mbaya Mulumba, one of the leading contenders for the light-welterweight title with South Africa’s John Paul Masamba and Commonwealth Games silver medallist Richarno Colin of Mauritius all of whom will be in action in tonight’s mouth-watering quarters.
South Africa and Mauritius have five boxers in the mix, Botswana four, Namibia and Eswatini three each.
Botswana’s head coach Thebo Setlalekgosi is very impressed with the introduction of the new Mandela African Boxing Cup tournament.
“This tournament is an opportunity for our boxers to have as many fights as they can to build our teams going forward,” he told me in a telephone interview.
“All but one of my boxers will have an opportunity of having three to four fights if they reach the finals and that is a lot of experience to gain in just one setting. The tournament also gives an opportunity to upcoming boxers to gauge themselves against some of the best African boxers. We need more of such tournaments.”
In tonight’s action, among the prominent African boxers in the ring will be Tunisian star and a gold medallist at the 2019 African Games Kholoud Hlimi who takes on Lesotho’s Puleng Rapoeea, South Africa’s continental champ Lusizi Lubabalo meeting Mauritius’ talented southpaw flyweight Fabrice Valerie, Botswana’s 2019 African Games flyweight champion Rajab Mahomed taking on Ethiopia’s Fitwi Nigus, Uganda’s Africa lightweight silver medallist Ssali Wasswa battling DR Congo’s Malenga Zengala, Mauritius Olympian and gold medallist at the 2019 African Games light-middleweight Merven Clair taking on Eswatini’s Mayibongwe Maluli, DR Congo’s Africa gold and silver medallist David Tshama meeting Abdul Machel of Mozambique, South Africa’s impressive lightweight Sanele Sogcwayi clashing with Eswatini’s Andiswa Sibandze, Egypt’s African Games silver medallist Elawady Elsayed vs Brian Nyawasha of Zimbabwe, Ethiopia’s African Games middleweight bronze medallist Temesgen Mitiku battling Namibia’s Festus Petrus and Mozambique’s Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Tiago Muxanga clashing against Nazalux Idi from Comoros.
The semi-finals of the five-day tournament will take place on Saturday (April 20) followed by the finals on Sunday (April 21).
The organisers have yet to announce how the $500,000 prize money will be shared among the participants.
📸 DR Congo’s bantamweight Bawala Nkelani weeps after losing to Egypt’s polished Yomna Ayyad in the quarter-finals. Defeat is always bitter. Some boxers have used that pain positively to catapult them to great achievements in the ring.
✍🏼 AFBC Communications