Nigeria’s undisputed Africa heavyweight champion Adam Olaore (pictured) is in a tight corner.
Today the African Games champion meets Kazakhstan’s 2022 Asian champion Albek Oralbay in the pre-quarters at the North Paris Arena as the Paris Olympics boxing tournament enters Day 2.
Victory for Olaore will probably see him taking on Cuba’s two-time Olympic gold medallist and five-time world champion Julio Cesar La Cruz in the quarter-finals. La Cruz is favoured to defeat Azerbaijan’s Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist Loren Berto who won gold in the 2021 Worlds and silver last year in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Olaore is among the five African boxers who’ll be in action today.
Commenting on his prospects in the Paris Olympics, Olaore said:” All the preparations’ targets have been met, I plan to show the world a version of myself that they are yet to see, a version that is deserving of the Olympic gold medal.”
Olaore trained at his base in Newcastle before linking up with his compatriots in Germany for pre-Games preparations.
The other four African boxers fighting today, Zambia’s flyweight Margret Tembo, Morocco’s Yasmine Mouttaki, Mozambican pair of Alcinda Dos Santos and Tiago Muxanga will all be appearing in the round of 32.
Tembo is lined up against polished Finnish southpaw Pihla Kauvo-Oja who beat Nigeria’s Zainab Adeshina in the quota bout to book a ticket to the Paris Olympics during the final world qualifiers in Thailand. It’s obvious Adeshina will be rooting for Tembo and she’s likely to jump up in joy in case Tembo beats her Finland opponent.
Flyweight Mouttaki meets Aira Villegas of the Phillipines with victory setting her up for the sixth fight against arch-rival Roumaysa Boualam of Algeria who received a bye to the round of 16.
Two-time Africa champion Alcinda Dos Santos has a date with Slovakia’s Jessica Triebelova at welterweight while Alcinda’s compatriot, Tiago Muxanga, squares it out with Germany’s Magomed Elim Sultanovic in the light-middleweight class.
Credit: AFBC Communications
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