Chronicle Editor
Ronald Mashinga, Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWEAN boxers will take part in the 2020 Olympic qualifiers to be held in Senegal from February 20-29.
The boxing extravaganza will see boxers from Africa competing for places in the Olympics scheduled for July in Japan.
Zimbabwe Boxing Federation technical director Steven Masiyambumbi said they had been quietly preparing for the Olympic qualifiers.
“The boxing competition will do us good in terms of exposure. We are a country that produces good boxers and this is an opportunity to showcase what we have as a country,” said Masiyambumbi.
Zimbabwe has produced good boxers in the past such as Alfonso Zvenyika, the late Proud Chinembiri and Langton Tinago, as well as Charles Manyuchi, who is the current World Boxing Federation middleweight champion and the first-ever Zimbabwean to win a world title.
Four continental boxing events, Asia/Oceania, Africa, Europe and America, will take place between February and April this year to seal their places for the Tokyo 2020 boxing tournament.
The tournament in Senegal will be the first boxing meet after the Asia/Oceania tourney was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China.
The event has now been rescheduled to March 3-11 in Jordan.
The World qualification event will give all boxers a second chance to qualify for the last spots up for grabs set for Paris, France, in May.
Online Reporter