Moment Of Truth For Ikgopoleng

By Boitumelo Khutsafalo
Staff Writer | Monday August 18, 2008 00:00

 

Should Ikgopoleng overcome Enkhbat, he will make history as the first Motswana to win an Olympic medal. He is the only African boxer still surviving at the games and this means he carries the continent's hopes of a medal in the ring.

Already, he has made history as the first Motswana boxer to reach the quarter-finals in  the Olympics after he knocked out Moroccan competition Hicham Mesbahi in the bantamweight (54kg) on Friday.

Until the referee stopped the bout in the fourth round, Ikgopoleng's dreams of advancing to the next round seemed dashed as Mesbahi was leading on points.

However, he did the unexpected when he landed a heavy punch that broke his opponent's nose, forcing the referee to stop the match. Mesbahi is a more senior boxer than Ikgopoleng's first opponent, Luke Boyd of Australia.'To me it was a very close contest and it was tougher than the first fight,' Ikgopoleng told Monitor Sport.

'He (Mesbahi) is a boxer who takes his time and plans carefully. He would not just rush into taking a decision,' he added.

He said his strategy in Friday's bout not to stay too close to his opponent. 'I wanted to take a punch when an opportunity arose and then try and move away from him and that is why he always missed me with his left hook,' he said. Ikgopoleng's next opponent today, Enkhbat beat John Jospen Nevin of Ireland 9-2 in an another interesting fight.

'This coming fight is the most important and it is like a final to me because if I win it, I would be sure of a medal,' he said. He told Monitor Sport that he did not watch his opponent's fight and he will see what happens when he gets into the ring today.