Boxing: Aiba African Continental Olympic qualifying event |18 March 2016

Allisop loses a tough fight, awaits on Olympic future

Andrique Allisop fought bravely but still lost on points against the number one seed, Algerian Reda Benbaziz in the semifinals of the60kg lightweight category of the ongoing International Boxing Association (Aiba) African Continental Olympic qualifying event in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

According to reports from Yaounde, Allisop won yesterday afternoon’s fight as he punished his opponent with a series of blows and the Algerian also suffered two cuts to his forehead.

But in the end the judges awarded victory on points to the Algerian who also beat Allisop in the quarterfinal of last year’s African Boxing Championship in Casablanca, Morocco.

Allisop, who had won his previous two fights against Demosthene Roguea of the Central African Republic on a 3-0 (30-27, 30-26, 30-26) points decision and Ethiopian Biru Keralah Mesfin on a 3-0 score in the quarterfinal, still stands a chance of qualifying for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in August.

This is because three boxers from each of the 10 weight categories will book their tickets to Rio.

And Andrique will probably know today if he will need to enter the ring for tomorrow’s third place play-off fight against Tunisian Shili Alaa who lost the other semifinal against Egyptian Abdelaal Mahmoud by technical knockout-injury (TKO-I).

According to Aiba’s technical rule 2.2.3.5. Knockout (KO) and Technical Knockout (TKO), when the result of the bout is knockout or technical knockout, the ringside doctor must fill out and sign a medical bout report which data will be updated in the Aiba database and sent automatically to the national federation concerned. The medical  bout  report must recommend how many rest days should be prescribed or the protective sanitary measures (that should be taken) and be delivered to the supervisor by the ringside doctor.

It is therefore not sure how many rest days the ringside doctor will give Shili Alaa and if he decides to give him just one, it means Allisop will have to step into the ring tomorrow to face the Tunisian for his ticket to Rio.

G. G.