‘Hit Squad’ lands four fighters in the semis

Kenya is assured of at least four medals with three more boxers making it to the semi-finals of their respective bouts at the ongoing Africa Boxing

Confederation (AFBC) Elite Championships in Maputo, Mozambique.
African Games bronze medallist Boniface Mogunde made the semis on Wednesday to join Nick “Commander” Okoth and Samuel Njau who punched their way to the last four a day earlier. 

Also in the semis is Africa Zone II champion Elizabeth Andiego.

Mogunde needed seconds in the first round to destroy Mohamed Ahmed from Somalia and advance to the last four in their light middleweight contest.

Mogunde, who is making his debut in the continental event, subjected Ahmed to some good combinations, forcing the referee to give the Somali standing counts twice before stopping the bout.

Mogunde will now meet Hamza El Barbari from Morocco in the semi-finals Friday. El Barbari also stopped Mmusi Tswiigwe in the first round of their bout.

"It will be a tough day for Bonny in the office. He will need to be sharp and fight from a distance. His opponent is big, quick and smart,"said Kenya’s Hit Squad coach, Benjamin Musa.

Algerian Youcef Islam Yaiche will take on Merven Clair from Mauritius in the other light middleweight semi-final. Yaiche bundled out Nectar Nduwarugi from Burundi with Clair claiming a split decision victory against Zambian Stephen Zimba.

Defending champion "Commander" Okoth (lightweight) and compatriot Njau (featherweight) stormed into the semi-finals in impressive fashion.

However, it was not a good outing on the same night for Africa bronze medallists Shaffi Bakari (bantamweight) and Christine Ongare (minimumweight) as their journey ended at the quarter-finals stage.

Okoth floored Jean Jerry Ziggy from Mauritius through a flurry of blows to receive the count in the second round before winning unanimously 5-0.

Njau triumphed after the referee stopped his bout in the second round to rescue Aly Badra Doumbouya of Guinea.

Some swift combinations from Njau saw Doumbouya receive counts in the first and second round before the referee halted the contest.

Okoth will now face top seeded Walid Tarzout from Algeria while Njau takes on Ben Banda from Zambia in their semis on Friday.

"This will be a close tactical fight for Okoth where counter attacking speed, precision and good defence will be key," said Musa.

Andiego will face South Africa's Mkateko Sithole Thursday in the semi-finals of their women’s light heavyweight bout.

The four Kenyans in the semi-finals are guaranteed medals and at least Sh300, 000 each for reaching the medal bracket.

The gold medallists of the continental championships are guaranteed $10,000 (Sh1.2m), silver medallists $5,000 (Sh600,000) and bronze winners $2,500 (Sh300,000).