▪️Issa Faki is the toast of Tanzania in Day 3 of World Championships as the total number of African boxers in the last 16 rises to 18 with a total of 29 wins and 55 losses so far
▪️Plus the full results of Day Three
The total number of African boxers in the pre-quarters shot up to 18 as ten more qualified in Day Three of the World Boxing Championships at the Dubai Tennis Stadium on Saturday, December 6, 2025.
The 10 African boxers who qualified for the pre-quarters in Day Three are Tanzania’s Issa Faki, two Ghanaian boxers bantamweight Amadu Mohammed and lightweight Ebener Ankrah, Cape Verde’s Olympic bronze medallist David Pina and compatriot Lenick Fernandes, Kenya’s Washington Wandera, Zambia’s two boxers Andrew Chilata and Mwengo Mwale, Ethiopia’s lightweight Haymanot Desalegn and Mali’s Djibril Traore. They join eight others who qualified for the round of 16 in Day Two of the World Championships in which $8.32 million is at stake with gold medallists winning $300,000, silver $150,000, bronze $50,000 and $10,000 for quarter-finalists.
Africa Zone 3 bantamweight bronze medallist Issa Faki brought joy to Tanzania’s boxing fraternity giving the largest East African country their first victory in the World Championships in 51 years since Emmanuel Mlundwa’s points win over Puerto Rico’s Alfredo Pereira in the inaugural 1974 World Boxing Championships in Havana, Cuba.
Faki stopped United Arab Emirate’s Sultan Alnuaini in the second round of one of the bantamweight round of 32 bouts. Mid-way through the second round Faki unleashed a combination of unanswered punches to the head, forcing the female referee to give the UAE boxer a standing count after which she waved it off with Sultan’s body language in obvious disagreement with her decision to stop the fight.
Commenting on Faki’s historic victory, Emmanuel Mlundwa – the Father of pro boxing in Tanzania – congratulated the young boxer and the Boxing Federation of Tanzania under the leadership of the industrious Lukelo Willilo.
“Faki’s victory shows the standard of boxing in Tanzania is now improving, and it’s an inspiration to the upcoming boxers,” Mlundwa, the founder of pro boxing in Tanzania in 1982, told boxersworld.co.ke in an interview.
Mlundwa was among the four Tanzanian pioneer boxers who represented their country in the 1974 World Championships. Others were welterweight Wilbert Musa, middleweight Felix Joseph Massawe and light-heavyweight Joseph Magesa Wambura.
Cape Verde’s Olympic flyweight bronze medallist David Pina and Kenya’s Washington Wandera were the most impressive African winners in Day Three.
Pina produced a masterclass show of accurate scoring on the blackfoot and body movement to outpoint Mongolia’s Gan-erdene Gankhuyag, and meets top seed Spain’s southpaw Raphael Serrano who beat Kenya’s Shaffi Bakari.
“Serrano is not a threat to me I’ve met good boxers from Spain and beat them like bronze medallist in the last world championships Martin Molina,” said Pina, adding: “I spoke to my coach from Portugal and we hatched a game plan to defeat him. It was a good fight our strategy with my coach worked very well. I’m now focusing on my next fight, I don’t see any boxer to deny me winning $300,000 and the gold medal.”
Kenya’s Wandera took Uganda’s Fahad Mulindwa to class with clean easy boxing enroute to a points victory. Unable to land any telling blow owing to his failure to find the range, Mulindwa punched the air for the better part of the fight.
“I thank God for winning and relying on him to guard me in next fight,” said Wandera who used his height advantage effectively. Wandera now meets Latvia’s Matvejs Prokudins in the pre-quarters. He saw off Australia’s Luke Casaar via a TKO in the second round.
Wandera’s compatriots, bantamweight Shaffi Bakari, flyweight Kelvin Maina and middleweight Edwin Okong’o gave a good account of themselves but lost on points, getting the nod of their head coach Musa Benjamin.
In his daily assessment of his team Musa was impressed by their gutsy performance and thought some of them should have won. Over to you Musa.
“I feel the four had the desire and hunger to win today’s bouts. Shaffi gave his all but lost to a very good boxer, probably the 2025 bantamweight IBA world Champion. The southpaw was very quick both on his feet and hands which Shaffi had no answer to. Kelvin Maina was okay though we need to work on his punching power. Otherwise his movement and composure was great.
Okon’go should have stopped his guy but took so much time to get his momentum. Basically,the gap is narrowing and the team is on the right trajectory.”
That’s Kenya’s head Musa Benjamin with his daily analysis of his boxers.
While Kenya is chasing its first medal in 47 years in the World Championships since Steve Muchoki’s gold at the 1978 World Championships, Uganda and Ghana are eyeing their first medals in 51 years in the World Championships.
Amon Kotey won Ghana’s first and only medal so far in 1974 while Ayub Kalule’s gold and Joseph Nsubuga’s bronze were the first and last medals so far by Ugandan boxers.
