Africa-Press – Botswana. Botswana will pin hopes on the high flying elite women’s light fly boxer, Lethabo Modukanele, when she takes to the ring against sharp shooting Vietnamese southpaw, Nguyen Thi Tam (Tuesday).
Modukanele, a bronze medalist from the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham last year, faces a mammoth task against Nguyen, who set a date with the Botswana boxer in the last 16 after an emphatic preliminary victory against top seeded Nazym Kyzaibay of Kazakhstan.
Modukanele opened her account at the International Boxing Association’s (IBA) Women’s World Boxing championships against Asmita Duwal of Nepal in the light fly category.
She won all absolute 10 points from the judges and ended her match with a decent score of 5-0.
The stage is now set for a high octane match at the state of the art KD Jadhav Hall against the Vietnamese boxer who comes across as a tall order for the Botswana corner.
Speaking from their base in New Delhi, Botswana boxing team head coach Thebe Setlalekgosi said they were alert of Nguyen’s technical ability, but Modukanele would be equal to the task.
He said he observed how clinical the Vietnamese executed her plan against the former World Champion in the opening round.
“Lethabo is ready and we are here to fight, her maturity inside the ring shows she is now a profound professional. Her strongest point is her listening ability, it is top notch. She is able to pick instructions from our corner in the middle of the fight and change her tact. The communication between us is top class and I’m impressed,” said Setlalekgosi.
Setlalekgosi said they had a plan and if executed perfectly they were ready to march into the quarterfinals of the lucrative world championships.
The IBA has confirmed a lucrative prize fund of over P31 million for the ongoing championships in New Delhi. Gold medal winners in each of the 12 weight categories will receive P1.3 million each, silver medalist P660 000 while bronze walk away with P330 000.
Meanwhile the other two Botswana boxers Aratwa Kasemang and Bele Phekie were knocked out in the opening stages of the matches. Phekie narrowly lost to Moldova’s Iulia Coroli by judges split decision while Kasemang was beaten 0-5 by Cape Verde’s Ivanussa Moreira.
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