Cape Verde’s Africa welterweight champion Ivanusa Moreira is convinced the top-notch preparations she has undergone in Italy will earn her a ticket to Paris.
“I’m ready for any opponent, mentally and physically I’m in top shape because I’ve had serious workouts here in Italy,” Moreira told me in a telephone interview.
Other Cape Verde boxers in the mix are bantamweight David Pina and middleweight Bruno Fernandes.
So far 18 African boxers have qualified for the Olympics. Algeria leads with five, Egypt, Morocco and Nigeria have three each while Tunisia, Zambia, Mozambique and DR Congo have one each.
From the foregoing, it’s only East Africa which does have even a single qualifier.
Africa last won an Olympic boxing gold medal at the 1996 Games in Atlanta through Algeria’s lightweight Hocine Soltani.
Credit: AFBC Communications
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