Nigeria breaks Kenya’s record set in 1987 African Games in Nairobi
🇬🇭 African Games Boxing Tournament in Accra, Ghana, March 15-22
NIGERIA BREAKS KENYA’S RECORD
The West African country lands 10 boxers in the finals, two more than Kenya at the 1987 African Games in Nairobi
Unheralded Zambian Emmanuel Katema shocks two-time Africa champ Jugurtha Ait Bekka of Algeria
Nigeria broke Kenya’s record set at the 1987 African Games in Nairobi by landing 10 boxers in the finals of the African Games boxing tournament taking place today (March 22) at the Bukom Arena in Accra, Ghana.
Nicknamed Hit Squad, the dominant Kenya’s national boxing team entered eight boxers in the finals of the 1987 African Games in Nairobi and all the eight boxers won gold medals.
Nigeria may have broken the record of having more finalists than Kenya in the African Games boxing tournament but the one million question remains: Will the 10 Nigerian boxers also surpass the record set by Kenya of winning eight gold medals in the finals?
Nothing is impossible for the high-riding Nigeria’s national team handled by former international boxer Tony Konyegawachie whose brother Peter Konyegawachie became the first Nigerian boxer to win an Olympic silver medal in 1984 in Los Angeles.
Breathing behind Nigeria’s neck is DR Congo with seven boxers in the finals, Algeria have six, Ghana and Zambia five each and defending champions Morocco four.
Tunisia, Ethiopia, Egypt and Mozambique have two each with Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, Togo and South Africa having one each.
As expected, the battle for the overall team title is between West, North, Central and Southern African countries. Zambia is carrying the hopes of Southern Africa with Mozambique having only two in the finals and South Africa one. Botswana, placed second at the 2019 African Games and without a representative in the finals, will this time watch the finals from the terraces.
As said earlier, hosts Ghana are relying on divine intervention to win the African Games overall team title for the first time and praying most of Nigeria’s boxers lose their fights in the finals which is not easy. On West Africa supremacy, Nigeria has already beaten Ghana hands down.
The five Ghanaians in the finals are minimumweight Mohammed Aryeetey, world bantamweight quarter-finalist Amadu Mohammed, Commonwealth Games silver medallist Joseph Commey, Olympic bronze medallist Samuel Takyi and cruiserweight Abubakar Kamoko who has gone a notch higher than his father, Bukom Banku who bronze at the 1999 African Games in South Africa.
DR Congo has maintained their position as the top boxing nation in Central Africa with Cameroon not having even a single boxer in the finals.
East Africa, expectedly, are nowhere near the battle for the overall position with Kenya the only country represented in the finals by middleweight Edwin Okong’o who meets Morocco’s Yassine Elouarz in the finals. It’s a big achievement for Kenya taking into account they were represented by only four boxers. Their other semi-finalist Amina Martha lost to Nigeria’s polished southpaw Shukurat Kareem. Amina suffered a right shoulder injury in the first round. It popped out but was immediately attended to by the medical personnel.The fight was therefore stopped in round one due to the injury.
Tanzania’s two boxers, light-heavy Yusuf Changalawe and cruiserweight Musa Maregesi all lost with Changalawe dropping a suspicious points defeat to DR Congo’s Pita Kabeji. Uganda’s light-middleweight Muzamir Semuddu lost to Egypt’s Omar Elsayed.
The major upset of Thursday’s semi-finals was the unexpected defeat of two-time Africa champion Jugurtha Ait Bekka who has enjoyed an unbeaten streak in Africa since 2022 when he won welterweight gold in the Africa Championships in Maputo. He lost to the unheralded Zambian, Emmanuel Katema in the light-welterweight division. Katema threw caution to the wind and matched Jugurtha punch for punch.
Zambia’s Commonwealth Games flyweight bronze medallist Patrick Chinyemba broke the hearts of Ghanaian fans, beating popular homeboy Theo Alottey for the second time in a hugrow having defeated Allotey at last year’s Men’s World Championships in Uzbekistan.
In other highlights of Thursday’s semi-finals, two-time Africa light-middleweight champion Alcinda Dos Santos of Mozambique scored her fifth consecutive victory over DR Congo’s Brigitte Mbabi who has now won her forth bronze medal in international competitions.
Among the men’s bouts to be keenly contested tonight include the light-welter duel between Ghana’s Takyi and Zambia’s Katema, Zambia’s flyweight Patrick Chinyemba vs South Africa’s Lubabalo Lusizi, featherweight Dolapo Omolle of Nigeria vs Mozambican Armando Sigauque, Zambia’s lightweight Andrew Chilata vs Ghana’s Joseph Commey, DR Congo’s Africa light-middleweight champion Mbiya Kulenguka vs Egypt’s Omar Elsayed and Morocco’s Olympian Mohamed Houmri vs DR Congo’s two-time Africa champion Pita Kabeji.
In women’s bouts, there’s the light-flyweight featuring Algeria’s Roumaysa Boualam vs Nigeria’s Zainab Adeshina, Ethiopia’s flyweight Betelhem Gayiza vs Morocco’s Rabab Cheddar, Morocco’s Africa bantamweight champion Widad Bertal vs Nigeria’s Shukurat Kareem and light-middleweight between Mozambican Alcinda Dos Santos vs Nigeria’s Blessing Oraekwe.
📸Nigeria’s national boxing coach Tony Konyegawachie will be a busy man at that corner today with 10 boxers in the finals.
✍🏼 AFBC Communications