EAST African boxers are doing fairly well as boxing race to Tokyo 2020 rages on in the outskirts of Dakar, Senegal since Thursday last week.
Kenya and Uganda have proved to be still tough contenders for Tokyo 2020 tickets, while Tanzania and Burundi are also deeply engaged in the race.
One of the best fights was the East African bout pitting Kenyan Rayton Okwiri against Ugandan David Ssemujji. It was tough and hard to decide middleweight bout and at the end the Ugandan won on a split decision.
The meeting between the two East Africans was billed to be the bout of the tournament, with Ssemuji exempted from the preliminary round and handed a bye while Okwiri came in with such healthy pedigree.
In the second, just as it seemed Okwiri was getting on top, Ssemujji fired back with a big uppercut.
But after two rounds, it was the Kenyan who was in front of the scorecards – three judges gave him the first round while four the second.
However, the Ugandan big hitter responded in the final round in a bid to turn the bout into his side.
Okwiri tried to respond, launching a relentless body assault in the final minute.
Kenya’s main hopes will now rest on skipper Nick Okoth who progressed to the quarter finals of the featherweight category after out-punching Wilson Semedo of Cape Verde earlier on Sunday.
There are total of 33 places – 22 for men, 11 for women – at the Olympic Games this summer will be up for grabs in the first of four continental qualifying tournaments to decide the boxers who will get the chance to compete for 13 sets of medals in Japan.
For those who don’t make it through their continental event, there will be one final chance to qualify for Tokyo 2020 in Paris in May.
But East African boxers have to clear Morocco and Algeria hurdles, the two powerhouses of African boxing in recent years.
Also likely to pose problems to our boxers are Egypt and the Democratic Republic of Congo. While many bigger boxing nations tend to tour the globe for training camps, it is a big struggle for some African nations to raise the money to attend tournaments.
Meanwhile, Elkana Kuhenga reports that three Tanzanian boxers were bundled out of the Tokyo 2020 race on Saturday night and Sunday evening.
It all began on Saturday night bout number 35 between Tanzanian Boniface Mlingwa and Pedro Gomes from Angola in Featherweight (52-57kg) fight.
Whereas the Angolan boxer won by unanimous points. In the same night bout number 39 a quarter-final Super Heavyweight 91+ kg Haruna Mhando lost by points to Katsuke Anani from Ghana.
Yesterday Sunday evening the Tanzanian Captain who won his first bout, Alex Isendi lost to Jonas Jonas of Namibia in a Lightweight bout.
The only hope was Yusuph Changarawe who was expected to face Mauricio Martnis of Bissau in a quarterfinal bout late yesterday.
Though hopes for the remaining three are still present as they will have a second chance in Paris, France in May.
