Ten African boxing nations are expected in the country on Sunday. Zambia, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, the Seychelles, Mauritius, Mozambique and Angola have all confirmed their participation in the competition that will be used as a qualifier for the Africa Championships in Cameroon later this month and the All Africa Games in Mozambique in September. Botswana had to come to Zone IV's rescue after initial hosts Namibia pulled out last week due to squabbles within the Namibia Boxing Federation (NBF). The Namibian government had not given NBF the green light to host the event. Botswana Boxing Association (BOBA) spokesperson Willough Kemoen said preparations for the championships were on course. "Everything is on course; we will call a press conference possibly tomorrow (today) just to share the developments with the media," Kemoen said. Local boxing fans will have a feast with over 40 bouts lined up for the six-day tournament, which will run up to Saturday. The boxers will attend a medical examination and weigh-in on Monday morning at the BCA before the official opening ceremony. Thereafter, the preliminaries will kick off and will continue on Tuesday afternoon. The quarter-finals will be on Wednesday afternoon while the semi-finals are scheduled for Thursday afternoon. On Friday, the boxers will battle it out for bronze with the final pencilled for Saturday afternoon. Botswana's nine boxers have been in camp under the watchful eye of head coach, Khumiso Ikgopoleng who is being assisted by Orapeleng Mosalakgotla, Cuban Juan Lewis and Winter Nkele.
Reigning Boxer of the Year, Bathusi Mogajane, will represent the country in the 49kg category while Oteng Oteng will fight in the 52kg group. Last year's Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Tirafalo Seoko is in the 56kg bracket with Melbourne Games silver medallist, Moloki Nogeng, battling it out in the 60kg category. A lot will be expected from veteran pugilist and captain, Gomotsang Gaasite, when he takes to the ring in the 64kg category.
