Seychellois boxer Joshua Cousin wins gold at Mandela African Boxing Cup

Cousin won his bout in the men’s 71-75kg category final against Ethiopia’s Neka Mitiku. (Seychelles Football Federation) 

Photo license  

Seychellois boxer Joshua Cousin has claimed a gold medal at the first-ever Mandela African Boxing Cup, after beating his opponent in the final on Sunday.

Cousin, who competed in the men’s 71-75kg category, went up against Ethiopia’s Neka Mitiku in the final and won the bout after the referee stopped the count.

To reach the final, Cousin had to defeat three boxers. In the round of 16 stage, he grabbed victory over Nkosinathi Dvuba of Eswatini and eliminated Jon William in the quarter-final.  

In the semi-final, the Seychellois boxer got a walkover over David Tshama from the Democratic Republic of Congo to make it to the final.

Aside from Cousin, who won gold, Seychelles was represented by three other boxers, with Keddy Agnes winning the bronze medal in his +92kg category, losing in the semi-final to Anthony Bweluzey form the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Arshild David lost in the quarter-final against Alayu Mekonne in the 51-54kg weight class, while Dasheil Fanchette also his quarter-final bout in the 80-86kg category, against Peter Pita also from the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The results placed Seychelles 10^th on the medal table.

The Democratic Republic of Congo came out first on the medal table with 10 gold medals, two silver and six bronze followed by Mozambique with two gold medals and three silver. Neigbouring island nation in the Indian Ocean, Mauritius came out third with two gold medals and three bronze.

The introduction of the new tournament in memory of the late South African President Nelson Mandela was organised by the International Boxing Association (IBA), the African Boxing Confederation and the South African Boxing Organisation. It took place in Durban, South Africa, from April 15-21.

Monetary rewards will be given to winners and gold medallists will receive $5,000 (SCR68,000), silver $3,000 (SCR 41,000) and $1,500 (SCR20,000) for bronze, courtesy of IBA.

Five of the boxing giants from Africa did not participate in the competition namely Nigeria, Algeria, Morocco, Zambia and Ghana.

Twenty-four countries participated in the tournament with around 101 competitors.