Dar es Salaam – Fourteen countries will feature in the Africa Zone Three Amateur Boxing Championship to be held at the National Indoor Stadium in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from March 28 to April 4.
The championship serves as the pre-Commonwealth Games trial for the 14 Africa Zone Three countries, according to Boxing Federation of Tanzania (BFT) secretary-general, Lukelo Wilillo.
Wilillo named the countries as Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, DRC, Congo (Brazzaville) and Cameroon. Also on the list are Gabon, Chad, Central Africa Republic, Ethiopia, Sudan, Equatorial Guinea – and the host, Tanzania.
He explained that Tanzania has been honoured to host the international amateur boxing event that will have the countries testing their boxers before travelling to Birmingham, United Kingdom, to compete in the Commonwealth Games scheduled for July 28 to August 8 this year.
“BFT will test the amateur boxers before they are selected to compete in the event ahead of the Birmingham Games. It is an opportunity for Tanzanian amateur boxers to gauge their skills before getting the chance to compete in the multi-sport event in UK,” said Wilillo.
He said BFT had already selected a provisional national team of six boxers for the event.
Names of the boxers would be revealed after completing procedures as per BFT regulations.
“We expect to select the best amateur boxers in the country who, we think, they would represent the country well in both Africa’s Zone Three championships and Commonwealth Games. Our main focus is to win medals in all events,” he said. – The Citizen
