Boxing: Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo |07 April 2020

‘I can still qualify for the Olympics,’ claims Keddy Agnes

Seychelles’ top boxer Keddy Agnes is confident he can still qualify for the summer Olympics which will now take place next year in Tokyo, Japan after being postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In an interview with Sports NATION this week, the super heavyweight (+91kg) fighter said that at the moment he has had to put his preparation for his next challenge on hold due to other pressing commitments but thinks once things calm down, he will step up his training to attain his objective of making it to the Tokyo 2020 Games.

“At the moment I’m busy as I am working in the emergency services and I am on stand-by due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but once things settle and life returns to normal, I will return to intensive training to achieve my boyhood dreams of taking part in the Olympic Games and I am very confident I can make it,” revealed the police officer.   

Agnes narrowly missed out on Olympic qualification last month when he lost to Algerian Chouaib Bouloudinats in the semifinal of the African qualification tournament in Dakar, Senegal after winning his two opening fights in this competition where he had to reach the final to guarantee a ticket to the four-yearly games.

“I should have won my semifinal bout against the Algerian as I feel I had the measure of him but I made some mistakes which cost me some points, but I will work harder for my next competition which is supposed to be the World Championships in Paris which was scheduled for May 13-20, but I’m sure the dates will be changed which will give me more time,” claimed the Sportsman of the Year 2018.

Agnes started his journey in Dakar on a perfect note, winning his preliminary round fight on points (5-0) against Cabo Verde boxer Davilson Dos Santos Morais, before booking his semifinal spot by a split-decision (3-2) win over Jeamie Tshikeva Kimbembi of the Democratic Republic of Congo who was the number three seed in the super heavyweight division.

In the semifinal, he lost 0-5 to Algerian Chouaib Bouloudinats, earning himself a bronze medal.

The super heavyweight (+91kg) category featured 11 boxers and only the two finalists qualified for the Olympic Games.

Agnes added that he has competed in most major games in his quite successful career and therefore he is on a mission to achieve this goal and is happy that the Summer games have been postponed which he feels will be to his advantage.

“Currently we don’t know when the next competition will take place but I think I have amassed quite a substantial number of points which places me in a strong position to gain entry to the Olympics and I will give my best to reach the games which is the only competition which I have not been to and I plan to add it to my wide collection,” stated Agnes who says he is not bothered about missing a golden opportunity to win the gold medal at the 10th Indian Ocean Islands Games (IOIG) in Mauritius last year.

“What happened at the IOIG is in the past and I have no regrets as I know it was due to a heart problem but now I am fine and looking forward to the next challenge and I am going to make sacrifices to achieve my target and I would encourage all sportsmen who are capable of proceeding with their training not to feel discouraged as things will improve, so they must continue to train on themselves and to stay fit,” the hard-hitting boxer advised his colleagues.

Agnes qualified for the final in style with a knockout win against Reunionnais Romain Ticane at the National Boxing Centre in Vacoas, Mauritius, but he did not step into the ring for the final as he was not feeling well.

So far, Laser specialist Rodney Govinden is the only Seychellois athlete to have qualified for the Games after winning the Laser gold medal at the 2019 African Championship RSX and Laser Championship.

It was last month that International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach and the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, announced that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community.

R. J-L.