Boxing: Okwiri eyes gold Medal at Olympic qualifiers in Dakar

Rayton Okwiri (right) in past action. [Jonah Onyango, Standard]

Former African Boxing Union middleweight professional champion Rayton Okwiri remains focused on winning gold medal at the African Olympic qualifiers in Dakar, Senegal.

Okwiri said the bronze medal he won at the 2016 Olympic qualifier helped him gain more confidence since he broke into the paid ranks and that he will not rest until he achieves his dream at the Dakar qualifiers.

“Nothing rings in my mind other than winning a gold medal and I’m determined to bring it home at the end of the qualifiers. I just hope the referees will be neutral, because I have suffered from biased officiating before,” he told Standard Sports.

Head coach Musa Benjamin said there is no time to relax as their mission is to win as many medals as possible for them to qualify more boxers for the Summer games.

“Our mission here (in Dakar) is to qualify as many boxers as possible for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and we are keen on not repeating the same mistakes we made in previous international championships,” said Benjamin.