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The Nairobian

Gicharu one win away from Rio ticket

Boxing

By Ben Ahenda | Jul 07, 2016

**Benson Gicharu Njangiru of Kenya and Tafari Ebanks of the Cayman Islands box during their men's bantamweight quarter-final bout at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland**

National bantamweight champion Benson Njangiru Gicharu defeated D’Andrea Riccardo in the first round of the World Professional Boxing Championships in Venezuela.

Gicharu, who travelled to the South American country without a coach and is being assisted by an AIBA appointed tactician, overwhelmed the Italian in all the three rounds. He won Tuesday’s bout in unanimous points’ decision and booked a slot in the quarter-final.

The Venezuela Championships is a qualifier to the Olympic Games in Rio Di Janeiro, Brazil next month.

Gicharu meets Victor Rodriguez of Venezuela in a quarter-final bout tonight in a match he must win to secure one of the five slots allocated to professional boxers in that weight category. Boxing coach David Munuhe told Feverpitch the Kenyan boxer has a higher chance of making it to the next round going by the Amateur Professional Boxing (APB) rankings.

According to Munuhe, Gicharu is ranked fourth in the world bantam APB championships compared to his opponent, who is not ranked by the world governing boxing body, AIBA. Rodriguez has not been ranked because he is yet to win a fight since the introduction of APB championships two years ago.

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Gicharu has won four out of the eights fights he has participated in since the introduction of the championships.

“Our main worry could be officiating. This is what affected our performance in Azerbaijan and if the judges do their work well then he (Gicharu) would come out victorious,” said Munuhe.