Twenty-nine contests took place on the fourth competition day of the All Africa Games in Brazzaville, Congo, where the winners from the Men’s Lightweight (60 kg), Welterweight (69 kg), Light Heavyweight (81 kg) and Super Heavyweight (+91 kg) weight classes became guaranteed medallists.

Bout of the day

Egypt’s London 2012 Olympian Hesham Yahya Mahmoud Abdelaal recovered from a poor start to defeat Lesotho’s Khauhelo Mothunyane in an exhilarating Bantamweight match.

Mothunyane shocked the 21-year-old Egyptian with plenty of stiff jabs in the opening round, before Abdelaal changed his tactics to much success in round two.

A tiring Mothunyane was unable to retain his strength in the third and final round, and was ultimately defeated by the talented young Egyptian.

Team of the day

Following Abdelaal’s triumph, two further Egyptian boxers were able to beat their rivals on the fourth competition day.

Light Heavyweight Abderrahmane Salah Araby performed well to eliminate Mauritius’ Indian Ocean Islands Games winner Cedric Olivier, before Super Heavyweight Ahmed Issa Madian Kassem defeated Congo’s Ardi Da Sylva Ndembo by unanimous decision.

Surprises of the day

Togo’s veteran Rafiou Sarouna has recently returned to the world of boxing, and his decision looks like a great one after he stunned Tunisia’s London 2012 Olympian Ahmed Mejri at Lightweight.

Congo’s Angolan International Meeting winner Cedric Massala lives and trains in Brazzaville, and delighted the home fans with a Welterweight upset over Algeria’s Zoheir Kedache.

The Round-Up

Ghana’s Musah Rahman Lawson produced an excellent performance over Mauritius’ Jean-Luc Rosalba at Welterweight, while Uganda’s Kennedy Katende eliminated Nigeria’s experienced Ekele Danuloko at Light Heavyweight to establish an intriguing semi-final with Algeria’s APB boxer Abdelhafid Benchabla.

Nigeria’s Efetobor Apochi won silver at the last edition of the All Africa Games in Maputo, and has now claimed a guaranteed bronze after quickly defeating Congo’s Laury Pembouabeka at Heavyweight.

Apochi’s compatriot and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Efe Ajagba also spent only a short amount of time in the ring after he dominated Super Heavyweight Paul Schafer.

Fact of the day

After 16 quarter-final contests in the All Africa Games, the following eleven nations have claimed at least one medal in Brazzaville:

• Algeria: 3 medals
• Cameroon, Egypt, Nigeria: 2 medals
• Congo, DR Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Seychelles, Togo, Uganda: 1 medal

Quote of the day

“My opponent was a very strong boxer, but he was putting too much energy into the opening round so he could impress the local crowd. I was aware that he was trying to knock me out, so I was waiting for him to run his energy down in the second round. The atmosphere in Brazzaville is great,” said Nigeria’s team captain Efetobor Apochi.

Tomorrow’s program

The second part of the quarter-finals will be held on the fifth competition day, where all of the three women’s categories and a further six men’s weight classes will be in action in Brazzaville.

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