▪️Only five boxers from Ghana, Zambia, Lesotho and Namibia qualify for quarters
▪️Among the casualties include Zambia’s fancied Mwengo Mwale and Nigeria’s African Games champion Patricia Mbata whose defeat further compounded the misery of the West African giant
▪️Amidst the devastating tornado is a historic triumph for Zambia’s Catherine Mwape becoming the first ever female boxer to win Commonwealth Games medal for her country
▪️Sierra Leone boxer Josefien Betist and coach William Brereton vehemently protest her controversial defeat
▪️Africa aims to salvage the ruins today with 18 boxers taking to the ring in the second quarter-finals, highlights being Zambia’s Albert Ngulube vs Northern Ireland’s Commonwealth Games champion Jude Gallagher, Nigeria’s Blessing Oraekwe vs Australia’s Lekeisha Pergoliti and Fight of the Night Kenya’s “Man Ngori” Robert Okaka vs England’s 2025 World Boxing Cup champion Dimeji Shittu
July 29, 2026
Africa’s boxing medal hopes suffered a devastating jolt on the opening day of the quarter-finals, leaving continental hopes in tatters after 10 boxers were brutally eliminated, with only five advancing to the semi-finals in Glasgow on July 28, 2026.
The catastrophic day was characterized by controversy in Sierra Leone’s camp and high-profile casualties. Nigeria’s fancied African Games champion UK-based Patricia Mbata and Zambia’s World Championships quarter-finalist Mwengo Mwale both crashed out in shocking defeats. The exit of Sierra Leone’s star boxer Josefien Betist triggered outright fury. Betist suffered a controversial 3-2 split-decision loss to England’s Lucy Kings-Wheatley in their female lightweight bout.
Following the verdict, the Sierra Leonean coach William Brereton vehemently protested, complaining of heavily biased officiating that robbed them of victory.
“Not one person in the Stadium thought Josefien lost, it was a bad decision, last round we were judged to lose 3-2 we never lost the last round,” an angry Brereton told boxersworld.co.ke
“I’m heartbroken I thought I had done enough to get the win. But that’s boxing. Head up and we go again. All preparations for hopefully a very successful LA28,” says Josefien who strongly feels she carried the day.
Sierra Leone Boxing Association Communication Director Alhaji Koroma described the defeat as open robbery.
Koroma’s statement to boxersworld.co.ke reads: “I am very proud with Josefien’s performance and the coach’s resilience to see my country win its first ever Commonwealth Games medal, but tonight I saw something different from the judges, I saw a clear robbery, the scorecard shows a result that should have taken us to the semifinal and a medal. The split decision against us was as a result of our country’s Sierra Leone smaller image compared to England in sport. I believe we won and the scorecard shows it clearly, that was an utterly biased decision to marginalize smaller nations.”
Zambia’s Mwengo Mwale remained speechless for sometime, pondering on what really contributed to his defeat to the Indian southpaw Jadumani Mandengbam Singh.
“I just don’t know what I can say but I lost clean,” Mwale said.
As she climbs through the ropes for the redemption fight, Nigeria’s Blessing Oraekwe is devastated on what has transpired in their camp, especially following the defeat of medal prospect Patricia Mbata who lost 3-2 to England’s Mary Kate Smith.
“To be sincere I cried but of course that cant solve the issue on the ground, it’s so heart breaking,” Blessing told me in a chit chat.
A leading ring analyst says Patricia has herself to blame for failing to utilise her long reach opting to exchange with the short English girl much to her disadvantage.
“The girl was effective with the infighting. In round two, Patricia established her range a bit and won the round only to again invite her opponent inside where she couldn’t get in clean punches. She should have just moved around sticking her jab and applying straight punches,” says a top boxing analyst who works closely with boxersworld.co.ke
On Mwengo, the analyst says: “The Zambian is a boxer to watch, very calm and composed he’s good at both short and long distance. He was able to dispatch Tanzania’s Issa Faki with ease. He handled the Indian southpaw well only that the guy had good defense and counter-attacked with speed and brilliant precision. He’s lost to the best boxer of these Games.”
Kenya was not left out in the massive defeats as Rosemarion Otieno’s high medal hopes ended in years losing 4-1 to Canada’s Marie Bathoul.
The Germany-based Rosemarion blames herself for the loss.
Says Rosemarion in an interview with boxersworld.com: “The problem is that wasn’t a fight I should’ve lost. I wouldn’t blame it on the judges. I didn’t dominate the fight and that’s my mistake
“She looked more aggressive than me that’s all.. she’s not a better boxer than me but I respect her. I just did too little and when I was tired she took over.
“I am a pressure fighter, I relied too much on countering that I forgot to take the initiative myself. I didn’t change the tactic in the second round by increasing the frequency of my punches
“I feel this was a great disappointment to my country. I can do better.. But all in all, only one year of active boxing I am proud of what I’ve achieved. I have a lot more to learn..We are just getting started and we live to fight another day.”
Kenya’s head coach Musa Benjamin shares his views on Rosemarion’s exit: “She apparently had put a lot of pressure on herself so when she went down 3-2 the 1st round, she got completely demoralised instead of coming out on all cylinders.
“The Canadian was very quick both on her feet and hands and kept cancelling our girl’s single shots with her flurries and eventually able to steal it! Mid second round and last round, she looked jaded and didn’t throw as much as she’s capable of.
Her inexperience at this level was obvious but she’s definitely going to come back stronger. she’s got positive traits, good attitude, resilient and a lot of fire in her belly.”
Other African boxers swept by the raging tornado are Mauritius’ Marie Marine, Uganda’ duo, welterweight Emily Nakalema and Nuhu Batte, and Malawi’s Elias Bonzo.
Despite the wreckage, five warriors fought through the storm to secure guaranteed medals.
Ghana’s African Games bantamweight champion Amadu Mohammed set the tone early, outclassing England’s Ellis Trowbridge in a tense 4-1 split decision.
“It was not easy to win the fight against my opponent backed by majority of the fans here but I fought for Africa I’m happy I won,” Amadu told boxersworld.co.ke.
He went on:”I thank God for the win and the support of my coach and teammates I’m aiming for the gold.”
Every dark cloud has a silver lining. Zambia’s female bantamweight Catherine Mwape gave Africa a smile, making history as Zambia’s first-ever female Commonwealth Games boxing medalist by edging past Mauritius’ Marie Marine Gabriel 3-2.
Mwape’s teammate Emmanuel Katema, as expected, defeated neighbor Elias Bonzo of Malawi, forcing a referee stoppage at 2:27 in the second round.
Namibia’s Philip Pumulo Haoseb carved out a crucial victory to keep his country in the medal hunt with a 4-0 victory over New Zealand’s Alex Mukuka.
Here are the 18 African boxers fighting in today’s second quarter-finals, July 29, in the second quarter-finals.
First session women’s light-middleweight
South Africa’s Samukelisiwe Ncube vs Rosie Eccles of Wales
Men’s lightweight
Botswana’s Treasure Moremi vs India’s Sachin Sachin
Men’s light-middleweight
Lesotho’s Refiloe Thai vs Orlando Holley-Sotomi of Wales
Ghana’s Precious Netty vs Merven Clair
Men’s light-heavyweight
Seychelles’ Jade Micock vs India’s Ankush Ankush
Ghana’s Desmond Pappoe vs Canada’s Joshua Ofori
Men’s super-heavyweight
Togo’s Ramzi Salifou vs Nigel Paul of Trinidad & Tobago
Second session women’s flyweight
Uganda’s Angel Katushabe vs England’s Ruby White
Namibia’s Mischa Areas vs Sri Lanka’s Nadeeka Ranasinghe
Women’s featherweight
Tanzania’s Zawadi Kutaka vs Lesotho’s Rapelang Maselela
Women’s light-middleweight
Nigeria’s Blessing Oraekwe vs Australia’s Lekeisha Pergoliti
Men’s lightweight
Zambia’s Albert Ngulube vs Northern Ireland’s Jude Gallagher
Namibia’s Tryagain Ndevelo vs Niall Adam of Guernsey, a self-governing island near the UK.
Men’s light-heavyweight
Kenya’s Robert Okaka vs England’s Dimeji Shittu
Men’s super-heavyweight
Ghana’s Daniel Plange vs Northern Ireland’s William McCartan
Uganda’s Aziz Abdul vs England’s Damar Thomas
