Twenty seven nations have registered to compete in the new edition of the AFBC African Men’s and Women’s Boxing Championships which will be held in Mozambique capital city Maputo on September 9-18. Twelve women and thirteen men boxers will be crowned at the upcoming AFBC African Elite Boxing Championships.

The gold medallists of the continental championships will get 10,000 USD, the silver medallists 5,000 USD, while those who claim bronze in all of the weight categories can expect 2,500 USD.

Algeria, Botswana, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Comoros, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Uganda and Zambia are registered to participate in the AFBC African Elite Boxing Championships.

Altogether 211 boxers including 64 women and 147 men are registered to fight in this upcoming Championships which will return to the boxing map after five years of break and will be held for both genders. The men’s lightweight (60kg) could be the most crowded category with the expectation of 17 participating boxers.

The African female boxers earned a record number of five medals at the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Istanbul in May 2022. All of the five women medallists have registered to  earn gold medals in the AFBC African Elite Boxing Championships.

Mozambique Alcinda Panguane and Rady Adosinda Gramane made history for the country at the IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships and also at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Both of the local stars will be favorites of their weight categories.

Algerian powerful Imane Khelif was silver medallist in Istanbul but she lost only that final bout in the recent one year. Her young 21 year old teammate Ichrak Chaib earned bronze medal in Istanbul and could be successful also in Maputo. Moroccanian veteran Khadija Mardi moved up to the heavyweight (+81kg) and her silver medal from Istanbul means that she is a strong favorite in Maputo too.

Cape Verde quarter-finalist from Istanbul, Ivanusa Gomes Moreira, Botswanian All Africa Games winner Keamogetse Sadie Kenosi, Nigerian Commonwealth Games finalist Elizabeth Oshoba, Cameroonian defending AFBC African Champion Clotilde Essiane, France-based Marine Fatoumata Camara from Mali and Sara Haghighat-Joo from Sierra Leone are also the big names in the championships.

Moroccanian Mohammed Rabii won the title at the Doha 2015 AIBA Men’s Elite World Boxing Championships which is his nation’s lone title and the last African gold in the event’s history. Following his professional career, he is planning a return at the cruiserweight (86kg) in the upcoming AFBC Championships. Among the Moroccan boxers, Hamza El-Barbari, Mohamed Assaghir, and Abdelhaq Nadir all have enough international experience to win their weight categories in Maputo.

Algeria has always had a strong male team and their best hopes are medallists from previous top events such as Younes Nemouchi, Mohamed Yassine Touareg, Oussama Mordjane, Yahia Abdelli and Mohamed Houmri.

Mauritius All Africa Games winners Louis Richarno Colin and Merven Clair both have fantastic technical skills and they are in top shape in 2022. Patrick Chinyemba and Stephen Zimba from Zambia both have amazing skills to win their weight categories in Maputo.

Botswana Otukile Rajab Mahommed, Mozambique Tiago Osorio Muxanga, Tunisian veteran Bilel M’Hamdi, Tanzanian Kassim Mbundwike, Hassan Shafi Bakari from Kenya,  Joshua Tukamuhebwa from Uganda and David Daniel Pina from Cape Verde are the further male boxers who need to be watched in the upcoming AFBC African Elite Boxing Championships.

Maputo hosted the African Zone 4 Boxing Championships in April 2022 which was the first international event for their boxers this year. The boxers who were born between 1982 and 2003 are eligible to participate in the AFBC African Elite Boxing Championships. The venue is the Pavilhao de Academica in Maputo which has the capacity of 5,000 seats.

The AFBC African Elite Boxing Championships has 60 years of history, the first edition featured in Cairo, Egypt in 1962. Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia, Kenya, Uganda, Libya, South Africa, Algeria, Mauritius, Cameroon, Morocco, Madagascar, Egypt and Congo hosted the previous editions between 1962 and 2017.

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