Ipinge reaches semi-final of African Championships

Namibia’s amateur boxer Gerald Ipinge reached the semi-finals of the 2023 Boxing Africa Qualifiers after outclassing his Togolese opponent Prewa Padabadi in Dakar, Senegal.

The continental qualifying event for the 2024 Paris Olympics is underway in Dakar with only 18 Olympic quotas at stake.

Seven quotas are available in the seven different weight classes in the men’s category, while two quotas are up for grabs in the women’s weight classes.

Team Namibia is being represented by four boxers at the championships which kicked off on 09 September 2023 at the Dakar Arena in the men and women categories.

On Wednesday, two Namibian boxers, Ipinge and Tryagain Ndevelo, competed in the quarterfinals of the 57 kilogramme (kg) and 80kg categories after progressing with successful wins from their round of 64 and 32 in their respective categories.

Despite having successful bouts in their round stages, only Ipinge registered his third win at the championships after outclassing Padabadi with a four-one win on the judges’ score card. Four of the five judges scored in his favour.

Meanwhile, Ndevelo found the going tough as his Nigerian opponent Joshua Omole was just warming up for what he had hoped would be a good fight in his 57kg semi-final before the referee stopped the fight in the first round after a standing count against the Namibian.

Only the gold winners at the Africa qualifier will automatically qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency