Nairobi — Kenya’s hard hitting Rayton ‘Boom Boom’ Okwiri sailed through to the quarter finals of the middleweight category after seeing off Emhemed Elmagasbi of Libya in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Qualifiers that got underway on Thursday in Dakar, Senegal.
Okwiri, the Africa Boxing Union professional middleweight champion, hit too hard, too straight and to accurately for Elmagasbi, as he recorded a clear points win.
Elmagasbi certainly gave it a good go, especially in the first round, as he caught Okwiri with a good left-right combination, but by midway through the second round, things were getting tough for the Libyan and he did well to hear the final bell.
“I was able to dominate all the three rounds and win on unanimous decision but that’s nothing close to my best. I felt a bit heavy, sort of a burning sensation on my chest. Could be the change of climate. But we are going to work on that with my coaches for the next one,” Okwiri said after the bout.
Okwiri next faces the No 1 seed, Kavuma David Ssemujju, of Uganda, on Sunday in the last eight as he seeks to return to the Olympic Games and make an improvement after bowing out in the last 16 in Rio de Janeiro back in 2016 where he competed in the welterweight category.
The action continues on Thursday when Kenya’s Joseph Shigali faces Ghanaian Abdul Omar in the Light Weight category while in the women’s category, Beatrice Akoth takes on Ramia Ali of Somalia in the featherweight.
