Libyan boxer, Saad Al-Falah emerged victorious in his second-round match against French opponent, Kevin Gerard in a boxing match held in Rome, Italy. The match was part of the International Boxing Organization (IBO) competitions.
The first professional participation of Al-Falah at the European level was in 2021. He defeated his Turkish counterpart, Ali Murat.
Al-Falah dominated the match, which lasted for five rounds, providing quality techniques, until he knocked his opponent to the ground.
Previously his participation was limited to local and Arab championships. He was crowned the Libyan Champion for three years, and the Libyan Semi-Professional Champion twice.
Al-Falah was crowned the gold of the Maghreb in 2019, and achieved 25 consecutive victories in the local championships.
He also won the African Bronze in Congo 2021, the gold in the Tunisia International Championship 2019, and the Libyan Championship for the junior categories in 2015, 2016, and 2017.
Boxing was considered a ‘savage’ sport and was banned in the 1970’s by former Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi. It is currently making a comeback in the country, despite limited infrastructure and investment in equipment, gyms and above all, safety for boxers.
At the time of the ban in the 1970’s, Libya was the second-best in Africa.
The country’s most famous and arguably boxing pioneer, Giubran Zugdani, took part in the 1976 Olympics.
The Confederation of African Boxing (CAB) has invited 13 countries to the tournament.
They include the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Somalia, Rwanda, Burundi, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville, Ethiopia, Central African Republic (CAR), Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
