Defending champions team Morocco took a commanding lead by securing eight gold medals in the initial finals of the AFBC African Men’s and Women’s Boxing Championships held at the Stade des Martyrs in Kinshasa on Friday, 25 October 2024.

The host nation, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, won four gold medals from their eight competing boxers and will aim to narrow the gap in the second finals on 26 October 2024, where six Congolese athletes will compete. With Morocco fielding eight more boxers in this concluding round, DR Congo faces a challenging pursuit in this thrilling and eventful one-week African Championships that showcased exceptional talent and promising rising stars.

Morocco’s gold medal winners included light-flyweight Yasmine Mouttaki, bantamweight Widad Bertal, middleweight Noura Mesmaoui, flyweight Issam Bensayar, lightweight Zouhair Fadel, welterweight Abdelhaq Nadir, super-heavyweight Younes Bouhdid, and light-heavyweight Hasna Larti. DR Congo’s four golds came from minimumweight Benedicte Diyoka, welterweight Brigitte Mbabi, bantamweight Bakora Kolongo, and light-heavyweight Nathan Mbeli.

Among Morocco’s champions, light-flyweight Yasmine Mouttaki and bantamweight Widad Bertal each claimed their second consecutive gold medals, following similar victories at last year’s AFBC African Men’s and Women’s Championships in Yaoundé, Cameroon. In a spirited light-flyweight bout, Mouttaki outscored DR Congo’s Carine Nkelani, who was hampered by penalties for holding. Bertal reaffirmed her position as Africa’s leading female bantamweight with a unanimous points victory over DR Congo’s Merveille Bisambu, who struggled to land any effective shots against Bertal’s superior agility and ring craft.

‘I knew from the beginning I would win gold because I prepared well and was ready for any opponent,’ Bertal commented.

Defending Mandela African Boxing Cup welterweight champion Brigitte Mbabi, one of DR Congo’s gold medalists, dominated Moroccan debutante Toutir Mounir, who was competing internationally for the first time. From the outset, Mbabi overwhelmed Mounir, delivering a relentless barrage of punches that led the referee to stop the fight in the second round.

While Morocco secured eight gold medals and DR Congo claimed four, the remaining two golds went to Cameroonian light-flyweight Martial Wouang and Republic of Congo’s female lightweight Sandrine Bokota, who triumphed over DR Congo’s Zalia Munga. Wouang’s win was a proud moment, with Cameroon’s national coach, Didier Ngatcha, recalling how he discovered Wouang’s potential in 2015, taking him from his hometown in Kouambo to train professionally. Wouang previously won a silver medal at last year’s Africa Championships in Yaoundé.

Kenya’s hopes for a gold on the first day of finals were dashed by Moroccan competitors: light-heavyweight newcomer Hasna Larti and super-heavyweight Younes Bouhdid, who defeated Clinton Macharia and Elizabeth Andiego, respectively. Andiego, who expected her efforts to secure her first gold in the African Championships, expressed disappointment after receiving her second silver medal in the tournament, the first being in Maputo in 2022.

Kenya is expected to contend for a gold medal in the second session, where Boniface Mogunde faces Burundi’s Nestor Nduwarugira. The upcoming bouts promise to be even more exciting, with World champion Khadija Mardi and DR Congo’s Peter Pita Kabeji both competing for their third consecutive gold medals, and DR Congo’s David Tshama aiming to reclaim his middleweight title against Morocco’s Yassine El Ouarz. Adding to the anticipation, an all-Southern Africa featherweight clash awaits between Namibia’s Tryagain Ndevelo and Zambia’s Mwengo Mwale. Confident in his prospects, Ndevelo has declared the gold medal to be his for the taking.

______________

Media contacts:

Elena Sobol, Head of Communications and PR, International Boxing Association: elena.sobol@iba.sport

Share on Facebook

Tweet