September 9, 2015 By Sahr Morris Jr.
Sierra Leone marked a poor return at the ongoing All African Games in Brazzaville, Congo as the country’s representatives in both boxing and karate suffered disgraceful defeats in their opening fights.
On Monday night, Sierra Leonean boxer Mohamed Kandeh was knocked-out by Congolese fighter Ndemo Ardi Da Sylva in the 91kg category at the Talagai boxing club.
Kandeh’s participation had been doubtful as the Sierra Leone Boxing Association (SLBA) owed the African federation a huge sum in debts, but the timely intervention of the Sports Ministry in settling their financial arrears helped the participation of the boxer.
Disappointingly, the Sierra Leonean was knocked-out within a minute after a heavy punch landed on his nose in the first round, which forced the referee to automatically stop the fight due to severe bleeding from Kandeh’s nose.
Boxing coach, Mohamed Lamin Turay, attributed his fighter’s shocking defeat to “lack of focus and distraction”.
“It was a shocking and disappointing defeat but that can be connected to the noise coming from the home supporters, which distracted my fighter,” said coach Turay.
The other disappointment of the day came from karate fighter, Abdulai Koroma who, less than three minutes, suffered defeat to Kumite of Botswana in the 60kg.
Koroma was unable to register a single point against his Botswana opponent who went on to score nine points in the fight following his three slide kicks on the face of the Sierra Leonean fighter.
Another Sierra Leonean who suffered defeat was Simeon Dimoh, who participated in the minus 67kg category. He lost to his Malian opponent by seven points to zero.