TANZANIA will send boxers in the 21st African Boxing Championship as the number of countries confirmed to participate in the event scheduled to start on July 25th in Yaounde, Cameroon, has increased to 37 nations.
The Secretary General of the African Boxing Confederation (AFBC), Andre Basile said the two-week tournament will start on July 25th and climaxes on August 6th this year.
He said they target 40 countries; hence having 37 nations is also a big success.
“We expect more countries to enter to join us as the dates are set and cash prize has been announced. We have never had such a large number of participants in the African Championships, and we cannot wait to welcome our guests and let them enjoy our hospitality,” he said.
He further explained that AFBC has 50 national federations as members. It will be the richest tournament ever since the establishment of the African Championships in 1962 in Cairo, Egypt.
In particular Basile said: “Boxers are delighted with the prospect of winning the top prize of 20,000 US dollars while the International Boxing Association (IBA) has doubled the total prize money to 1,000,000 US Dollars for the Yaounde tour.
He said silver medallists will receive $10,000 US Dollars and two bronze medallists will each get 5,000 US Dollars.
Moreover, he said under the leadership of Russian billionaire President Umar Kremlev, the IBA is determined to change the lives of African boxers and others worldwide through attractive cash prize in their tournaments.
In this year Men’s World Championships, gold medal winners received $200,000 US dollars.
So far, 37 countries have confirmed their participation in the Men and Women’s Elite Championships.
The countries which will participate in the event, according to him, are Democratic Republic of Congo Tanzania, Comoros, Cameroon, Senegal, Egypt and Guinea.
Others are Morocco, Botswana, Republic of the Congo, Mauritius, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Seychelles, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Algeria, Malawi, Gabon, Burundi, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Tunisia, Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Ghana, Togo and Namibia.
Also confirmed are Mali, Zambia, Cape Verde, South Africa, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Central African Republic, Niger and Swaziland.
Source: Daily News