Boxers Mugerwa, Katende storm into quarter-finals of Africa olympic qualifiers

Boxer Atanus Mugerwa revived Uganda's hopes of earning slots in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games after storming to the quarterfinals of the on-going Africa Olympic Qualifiers in Cameroon Sunday.

The hard punching bantamweight brightened the faces of Ugandan officials in Younde after he edged out Egypt's Abdelaal Hesham Yehia Mahmoud 2-1 in the second round on Sunday night.

Mugerwa joined light heavyweight Kenneth Katende in the quarterfinals of the 10-day event that has drawn a record number of 272 boxers from 39.

Sweden-based All Africa Games bronze medallist Katende earlier on beat Foster Yoada of Ivory coast in the second round last Friday.

The other Ugandan boxer still standing flyweight Ronald Serugo was due to take on Alaa Abdelrehim Ahmed Abdel Rahman late on Monday.

The claw back from Mugerwa comes after a sad Saturday night that saw both super heavyweight Mike Sekabembe and lightweight Sula Segawa bow out.

Segawa lost to Benbaziz of Algeria after sustaining a deep cut on the head while Sekabembe was out-pointed byNigeria Efe Ajagba.

Mugerwa is likely to face either Grassa Justin of Central African Republi or Sumtele Inkuleko of Lesotho who were due to square off yesterday.

A win will put Serugo on line against either Nikamou Mayelet of Gabon or Christo Bwalya of Zambia.

The 10-day AIBA Qualification event runs up to Friday.