Local Organizing Committee release the opening ceremony programme on Friday to be spiced by the famous Jericho dancers
Tanzania, Gabon and Rwanda are the latest teams to land in Kenya’s capital city Nairobi for the Big Party.
This brings to six the total number of countries in Nairobi for the Africa Zone 3 Championships starting with the action proper on Saturday, October 18, at Kasarani Gym. Other countries already in Nairobi are Uganda, Ethiopia and Cameroon. Uganda have 16 boxers while Cameroon and Ethiopia have six boxers each.
And the Local Organising Committee has released the programme for Friday’s opening ceremony which starts at 4pm at Kasarani Gym. It will be livestreamed courtesy of the Boxing Federation of Kenya whose President Anthony Otieno aka Jamal has promised to stage a memorable high quality show. Jamal is also the President of Zone 3.
Tanzania’s team of 22 boxers – 12 men and 10 women – include their two Commonwealth Games bronze medallists, light-heavyweight Yusuf Changalawe and light-middleweight Kassim Mbundwike, African Games bronze medallists, lightweight Ezra Paul and cruiserweight Musa Malegesi and their star female bantamweight Zulfa Macho looking forward to win her first medal in a major event. There’s also Ngome’s fighting machine King Lucas who impressed at the inaugural AFBC pro boxing card in Tunisia early this year.
Gabon’s National Technical Director Dieudonne Mefaghe said they will be represented by 11 boxers. They include the country’s two top pugilists, welterweight Arthur Lendoye and heavyweight Njinnou Mouandat, both gold medallists in the inaugural Mandela African Boxing Cup Championships. Moundat also won a bronze medal in the African Games in Accra, Ghana.
Rwanda will be represented by six boxers in the Africa Zone 3 Championships, and this will be their first participation in an elite tournament since 2018 when they featured in the Bingwa wa Mabingwa competition in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Among the six boxers, it’s only bantamweight Valentin Ntabanganyimana who has been at a major international tournament. He took part in the 2023 Junior World Championships in the land-locked West Asian country of Armenia accompanied by Jean Claude Gatorano who is the head coach of the six boxers.
In addition to bantamweight Ntabanganyimana, others in the team are brothers, featherweight Iranezeza Aime and light-welterweight Niyonzima Pacifique, light-middleweight Kalisa Frank, welterweight Hassan Murenzi and middleweight Patrick Ndayishimie who is a member of Inkuba Boxing Club together with the boxing brothers Aime and Pacifique. Ntabanganyimana , Kalisa and Murenzi are with The Real Boxing Club.
All the six boxers will be making their debut in an elite boxing tournament.
Experienced coach Jean Claude Gatorano will be assisted by Niyigena Olivier. The leader of delegation and team manager is Deogratius Wasswa.
