▪️Africa had 12 boxers from nine countries in the quarter-finals. Nine were eliminated and three, Patrick Chinyemba, Emmanuel Katema and Djibril Traore, advanced to the semi-finals
▪️Zambia’s sensational bantamweight Mwengo Mwale says he’s so bitter his controversial defeat has denied him earning $300,000 the top prize money.
11/12/2025
A great day for Africa with three boxers, Mali’s French-based Djibril Traore, Zambia’s Patrick Chinyemba and compatriot Emmanuel Katema, smashing their way to the semi-finals of the ongoing Men’s World Boxing Championships at the Dubai Tennis Complex.
Djibril Traore outpointed Spain’s Sergio Martinez, Chinyemba beat Kazakhstan’s Daniyal Sabit while Katemba KO’d Serbia’s Pavel Fedorov in the first round to move to the $75,000 semi-finals money bracket. They are assured of that amount if they don’t qualify for the finals in which the winner earns $300,000 and loser $150,000.
Traore’s victory ended an eight-year dry spell for Africa. He was the first African winner to romp through to the semi-finals.
Since 2017 when Cameroon’s super-heavyweight Arsene Fokou Fosso won a bronze medal at the Men’s World Championships in Humburg, Germany, Africa has gone eight years without a medal in this competition but now the continent is already assured of three medals with three boxers in the semi-finals.
Traore rightfully adopted the swarmer approach against his taller opponent. A swarmer is an aggressive, relentless fighter who closes the distance to overwhelm opponents with a constant barrage of fast, short punches including hooks and uppercuts in close quarters limiting space for their opponents to attack them or an outboxer to keep him at a distance. Most swarmers are short boxers.
Traore’s relentless onslaught against Martinez saw the Spaniard docked a point for spitting out his gumshield thrice. The bobbing and weaving Traiore won by unanimous decision and will now take on Russia’s Ismail Mutsagov in the semi-finals.
Mali’s federation president Mahamadou Draba is over the moon following Traore’s historic win over Martinez.
Here is Draba’s congratulatory message he sent to boxersworld.co.ke
“I would like to express a feeling of joy from all the people of Mali for the brilliant qualification of our boxer Djibril Traoré to the semi-final stage of the IBA world boxing championship in Dubai. Djibril has made the entire continent proud.
“The country’s authorities send him their sincere thanks.
I met his dad this morning who was surprised by the good news about his son. We wish him very good luck in advancing to the final.
I thank all those involved in boxing, especially African ones, who support us.
My last word is to say thank you to the entire IBA team and particularly President Umar Kremlev who is doing magnificent things for the promotion of boxing.”
African Games flyweight champion Patrick Chinyemba outpointed Kazakhstan’s Daniyal Sabit while African Games light-welterweight silver medallist Emmanuel Katema KO’d Serbia’s Pavel Fedorov in the first round. Katema meets Omar Livaza of Kyrgystan and Chinyemba battles Russian Bair Batlaev.
“I don’t know much about the Russian but I will carry the day because I believe in myself,” said Chinyemba.
Victory for Chinyemba will finally land him his dream match against Uzbekistan’s double Olympic gold medallist and defending world flyweight champion Hasanboy Dusmatov who is likely to beat Armenia’s Rudolf Garkoyan in the other semi-final bout.
Traore’s a coach Rachid Hallaf is very impressed by his boxer for sticking to their game plan.
“Our strategy was to leave no room and deliver a very intense first round in order to create openings later on,” Hallaf told boxersworld.co.ke in an interview.
“That’s what happened, and we maintained the same relentless pressure on Martinez to make sure he has no space to do anything useful and it worked beautifully for us. Djibril is also a boxer capable of fighting at mid-range, but in this very competitive world championship, we’ve opted for a very offensive strategy in our four previous fights.”
Against the Russian opponent in the semis, Hallaf said they will change their strategy.
“With the Russian boxer it will be more movement and quick responses” he said.
I ask Hallaf for how long has he been handling Mali’s national boxing team.
“I have been coaching the Malian national team since 2019. A female athlete from my club was selected and won a silver medal at the African Games in Rabat in 2019. Then I coached boxer Karim Abdoul Bathily in 2021, and now I coach Djibril Traore.”
Commenting on his victory over Martinez, Djibril, who is based in France, said he is happy their game plan worked to perfection.
“Martinez is a strong boxer who likes to go to war, just like me. The goal was to counter him after each of his punches, put power into each counter-attack, and move off the center line after the attack,” said Djibril, adding :” This is my first participation in a world boxing championship, and reaching the semi-finals is a source of immense pride for me, but the competition isn’t over yet; the goal is to win the gold medal.”
Against the Russian Ismail Mutsagov in the semi-finals. What is his strategy?
“I prefer to keep it a surprise; you’ll see during the fight” said Traore who is currently based in France.
“I have been living in France for over 10 years; before that, I lived in Spain. I train in France, at the US Melun Club, with my coaches Farya Bilal and Assad Younes, who are also trainers.
When did you start boxing? I ask him
“Before starting boxing, I did MMA from the age of 12 to 14. My first coaches were Mamadou Bathily and Mamadou Mendez. Then I started boxing at the end of 2018 at the age of 15, and my first coaches were Tonio De Susa and Andy. Then I went to US Melun, my current club, where I’ve been since 2020.
“I’ve only been boxing for Mali for one year, and this is my second competition with them. The first was the African Championships in Kinshasa, where I won a bronze medal in 2024.”
Africa had 12 boxers from nine countries in the quarter finals. Three qualified and nine failed to advance to the semi-finals following defeats in their respective bouts.
The nine boxers are flyweight Fabrice Valerie of Mauritius, bantamweight Zambia’s Mwengo Mwale, featherweight Armando Sigauque of Mozambique, South Africa’s featherweight Masibulele Sigwela, Uganda’s welterweight Bob Turyatemba, Mozambique light-middleweight Tiago Muxanga, Angola’s cruiserweight Adriano Kiana, DR Congo’s cruiserweight Pita Kabeji and Kenya’s light-heavyweight Robert Okaka.
Zambia’s Mwale is still very bitter on what he describes as injustice meted to him by the judges who gave Kazakhstan’s Saken Bibossinov 5-0 victory.
“Last night I didn’t even sleep well, why did they deny me my victory it’s very unfair, I planned to help my people back home with that money because I was sure I’ll win $300,000,”says Mwale.
“That was very unfair for the judges to deny me my deserved win, I was sure of taking home $300,000 the top prize money to assist my people back home,” said Mwale, “I didn’t sleep well because I’m still not okay mentally, I just feel it’s inhuman to do this to me.”
