Strong African opener at the Commonwealth Games

One of the highlights of this summer, the Commonwealth Games returned to Glasgow after 12 years and the boxing competition opened today with strong African efforts.

England’s Lauren Mackie claimed several medals in the preparation tournaments and the 21-year-old opened her Commonwealth Games’ campaign in style to beat Kenya’s veteran Amina Martha Faki in the first bout of the event.

Kiribati’s Eriu Temakau competed in the last edition of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and he returned to the multisport event to beat Guernsey’s Thomas Tears in the men’s 55kg weight class.

England’s second athlete in action was Ellis Trowbridge, one of their aces, who he sent off Vanuatu’s lone boxer in the Games, Ricksen Nomleas after a quick preliminary bout which confirmed his RSC triumph already in the first round.

Lesotho arrived to the Games with a young team excluding Mathealira Seholoholo, who turned already to 35 last month. Lesotho’s veteran met a top opponent, Ireland’s European U23 Champion Louis Rooney in the preliminary round of the 55kg. The Irish had some advantage on the judges’ scorecards after three minutes but Seholoholo’s punches were lethal in the second, and the boxer from Lesotho delivered a KO triumph.

His teammates such as Poaana Khoahli (65kg) and Refiloe Thai (70kg) also impressed against their opponents from Niue and Nigeria and despite their low number of international bouts, both won their debuting contests in Glasgow.

Bangladesh’s Mohamed Rakib Hossain won several national events in the recent years but the Commonwealth Games is his first top event during his career. Hossain controlled the first round against Solomon Islands’ Pacific Games runner-up Clinton Tetekana and he stopped his veteran rival in the second.

Bahamas’ Rashield Williams began his professional career only a few years ago but he was called back to the national team in order to participate at the Commonwealth Games. He approved that and confirmed his participation but the veteran was not enough fast to beat Papua New Guinea’s James Paul today.

New Zealand’s Connor Campbell, the 18-year-old talent, was a big surprise in the World Boxing Cup Stage 1 in Brazil where he reached the quarter-finals. The 65kg Kiwi talent was too strong for Fiji’s Ben Maukakala and he delivered the next RSC victory in Glasgow.

Zambia’s Mwengo Mwale is a powerful boxer and he used that well to beat Tanzania’s Faki Issa Faki in their 55kg meeting. His teammate, Emmanuel Katema delivered the second KO of the competition at the 65kg, Sri Lanka’s veteran Chamil Pathmasiri suffered that heavy punch.

Mauritius’ Fabrice Valerie, Namibia’s Philip Haoseb, Uganda’s Nuhu Batte and Malawi’s Elias Bonzo also succeeded among the African boxers on Day1.

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