It was a passing of the crown moment for Team Angola, as 2023 Junior Featherweight champion Matias Monteiro (winner above) overcame the challenge of countryman and 2023 Senior Featherweight champion Clelio Diogo to move on to the final. This Saturday, June 1, in the final day of the 2024 IMMAF African Championship, Monteiro will have the opportunity to unify both African Featherweight titles.
Matias will face Lewis Mataya, from Zimbabwe, who also overcame a countryman in the form of Bryn Gwavava. It will be no walk in the park for Monteiro, who had to go all three rounds against Diogo, while Mataya finished Bryn in 1m21s with a slick rear-naked choke submission. Lewis will be the fresher of the two fighters, and will be the only one standing between Monteiro and IMMAF African history.
2023 Flyweight champion edged one step closer to becoming a two-time African champion as Damian Muller squeezed past Mafuana Mbungo in one of the most exciting contests of the entire tournament. Mbungo put on a valiant effort and could be on the right side of the decision on any given day. Muller now faces South Africa’s Obakeng Mahura in the final.
While two fairy-tales continued on to the final day of competition, another also had an abrupt ending. Such was the case for Cameroon’s Alex Junior Kamgang, who will have to settle for a Bronze medal following an amazing run, that included a win over 2023 Lightweight champion Pedro Kalembela. Team Angola’s William Bombo avenged countryman Kalembela and will now face DR Congo’s Jeremie Likobele, 2023 IMMAF Junior African Lightweight champion, who will attempt to also unify the titles, as Matias Monteiro. Likobele had a bye into the final following the withdrawal of Zambia’s Killian Lungu.
In another huge Champion vs Champion clash, this time in the Light Heavyweight division, 2023 Heavyweight champion Anderson Gouveia was victorious over last year’s Light Heavyweight gold medalist Mario Stefan, who suffered a knee injury.
This Saturday, starting at 1pm (GMT time), the 2024 African Championships come to a close with the final match-ups in all Junior and Senior categories. Tune in at IMMAF.tv for all the finals LIVE, and go to Smoothcomp.com for the match-ups of the final day!
