Luanda - The Angolan boxer Pedro Gomes debuted with victory this Monday in Milan, Italy, over Zing Zing Liu, from Hong Kong, in the 57 kg category in boxing, at the Pre-Olympic Qualification Tournament for the Paris2024 Games, in France.
For the next challenge, “Black Panther” - son of the former pugilist with the same name, Pedro Gomes - will have an opponent from Canada.
The 57 kg category is being contested by 52 boxers, who are fighting to reach the final. This first global window, which started last Saturday, ends next Monday.
Unlike what was initially planned, Angola is not being represented by two athletes, but only by one, due to the disqualification of Luís da Costa “Boika”, 71 kg, who fights for Nantes in France, due to lack of recent medical examinations, according to the president of the Angolan Boxing Federation (FABOXE), Simão Muanda.
“Unfortunately, when we received this information, we were already on our way to Italy, in transit to Zurich, and when I acessed the e-mail and saw that this obligation existed. As we arrived in Milan on Friday night, on Saturday it was no longer possible to take the respective exams and then we had our athlete disqualified, being left out of the group of 70 athletes that made up his category”, he said.
For Angola to secure qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in France, Pedro Gomes needs to reach the podium, winning one of the medals, gold, silver or bronze.
From May 26th to June 4th, the 2nd global window of access to the Paris Olympic Games will take place in the city of Bangkok, Thailand.
Angola was absent from the first African qualification window, held in September 2023, in Dakar, Senegal.
Angolan boxing had its last presence at the London Olympic Games, in 2012, with boxer Ntumba Silva, but he ended up defeated without competing, after failing to weigh in. The first Angolan representation took place at the Moscow Olympic Games, in 1980, with boxers João de Almeida, Abílio Cabral and Alberto Coelho.
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