The writing had been on the wall since Draw Day, but Damian Muller nevertheless made it official. With a stunning win over Zambia’s Jonathan Banda, the reigning African Flyweight champion from the host country Namibia will now face Maurio Silva in the quarter-final of the 2024 IMMAF African Championships.
Silva, a two-time African Bantamweight champion, has decided to drop down to Flyweight to chase an unprecedented third continental gold in the African championships, and will make his debut in the competition straight in against the reigning 125 lbs champion.
Even though Damian walked away with the victory, it wasn’t without its difficulties. Banda came in strong, looking to upset the reigning champion, and immediately engaged, looking to work off the clinch, with knees to the body. Muller soon got into his game and was able to use his wrestling to keep Jonathan’s offense at bay.
In the second round, Banda continued having success in exchanges, but Damian clinched up, got a huge takedown, and immediately transitioned to Jonathan’s back. From there, he was able to earn a huge TKO victory to set up the Champion vs Champion clash.
Elsewhere on Day 2, Team Zimbabwe’s Bryn Gwavava advanced in the Featherweight division with a beautiful boxing-based display of striking skills to eliminate Jarcel Chimbwe, from Zambia, and set up a quarter-final clash with Festus Djuulume, from Team Namibia.
Finally, Featherweight Alex Junior Kamgang, from Cameroon, kicked off his campaign with a bang, using his superior grappling to overcome the challenge of Zimbabwean standout Macdelarn Chinambata. He now faces 2023 champion Pedro Calembela, from Angola, in the next round.
This Thursday, Day 3 will have the aforementioned Champion vs Champion clash between Damian Muller and Maurio Silva, but also the 2024 debuts of 2023 Featherweight champion Clelio Diogo (Angola), who takes on DR Congo’s Jacques Mbuyi, as well as Jeremie Likobele, the 2023 Junior Lightweight champion, moving up to the Senior division, where he will face Portus Chama, from Zambia. – immaf.org
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