Ugandan boxer David Ssemijji shattered Rayton Okwiri’s dream of returning to the Olympics after the Kenyan lost on a split decision during the Africa Qualifiers in Dakar, Senegal.
Okwiri was hoping to return to the Summer Games in July having flown the Kenyan flag at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Brazil.
For a man who had sacrificed his African Boxing Union Professional middleweight title to try his luck at grabbing the ticket to Japan, the loss was clearly devastating, both psychologically as well as professionally.
Okwiri successfully defended the Africa crown after he beat Augustine Matata of the Democratic Republic of Congo in Nairobi last year.
But he would later be stripped off the title after he went against World Boxing Council regulations that bar professional boxers from competing in amateur contests when he accepted an invitation from the Kenya Professional Boxing Commission to join the ‘Hit Squad’ at the qualifiers.
“No one will dictate to me what to do. I will rejoin professional boxing after the Olympics,” a confident Okwiri said last week before the Kenyan team left for Senegal.
But Ssemijji who plans to join the paid rank of pro-boxing after the Tokyo Olympics, was equally prepared to face the over confident Kenyan and former African champion despite the fact that he skipped the preliminary round after he was handed a bye into the next stage.
The odds were tilted in favour of Okwiri until the fourth round, but Ssemijji came back stronger in the fifth round to upset the pre-match favourite, who had taken a slim lead in the second and third rounds as the Ugandan progressed to the next round after all the judges carded in his favour.
That was a big blow for Kenyan boxing that now leaves the whole nation banking on Nick Okoth, who had progressed into the quarters after beating Cape Verde’s Wilson Semedo in the featherweight category.
Moroccan Assghir will take on Humphrey Ochieng in the light-heavyweight as African Games bronze medalist Boniface Mogunde fights it out with Algerian Chenseddine Kramou in the welterweight preliminary round.
The same category will also be contested in the women’s game between Ghanaian Faruza Osman and Kenyan Elizabeth Akinyi.
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