Africa’s shaky start in the Paris Olympics boxing tournament took another downturn when Nigeria’s Adam Olaore (pictured left in a red attire) was bundled out by Kazakhstan’s 2022 Asian champion Aibek Oralbay at the North Paris Arena in a pre-quarter heavyweight fight on Sunday, July 28.
Oralbay was in the driver’s seat from the start of the fight, knocking down Olaore towards the end of the round which he won 10-5.
The Kazakh boxer remained dominant, landing more heavier and clean shots to win the second and third rounds 10-5 for a unanimous 5-0 decision. He’s now through to the quarter-finals and is likely to fight Cuba’s two-time Olympic champion Julio Cesar La Cruz in the quarters.
With Olaore’s defeat, Africa now remains with 20 boxers following the elimination of Egypt’s bantamweight Yomna Ayyad and Nigeria’s African Games lightweight champion Cynthia Ogunsemilore. Ayyad gave away a walkover while Cynthia has been removed from the competition after being found guilty of a doping offence.
Four more African boxers will be in action in the fifth session tonight from 9pm East African time. They are Mozambicans, Tiago Muxanga and Alcinda Dos Santos, Zambia’s Margret Tembo and Morocco’s Yasmine Mouttaki.
Credit: AFBC Communications