JONAS Junias Jonas’ journey to redemption began with being crowned an African champion in Congo-Brazzaville on Sunday.
Along with teammate Mathias Hamunyela, Jonas won gold at the 2017 African Confederation Boxing Championships, which ended in Brazzaville on Sunday.
Jonas beat Eslam Ahmed Aly Mohamed of Egypt in the final, with Hamunyela overcoming Fotsala Simplice from Cameroon to win the men’s lightweight title.
In doing so, the duo, who also represented Namibia at the 2016 Rio Olympics, secured their spots at the AIBA Men’s world championships, which run from 25 August to 2 September in Hamburg, Germany, where the world’s top 280 elite amateur boxers will assemble.
The third Namibian at the African competition, lightweight boxer Matheus Kasolo, was eliminated in the preliminary rounds.
Victory was particularly fulfilling for Jonas following his nightmare in Rio de Janeiro, where he failed to advance past the first round after being arrested on accusations of sexually assaulting a chambermaid.
He has been allowed to resume his career, pending the finalisation of court proceedings in Brazil.
“It feels good, and I feel at ease now that I have fought,” Jonas told The Namibian Sport on Monday.
My aim was just to qualify [for the world championships] since I did not really prepare well for these games, but I’m happy with my performance,” he added.
A bronze medallist at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, Jonas has his sights set on another podium finish in Hamburg.
“I have got more than enough time left to prepare and do my best at the world championships,” he said.
Likewise, Hamunyela, who reached the second round in Rio, lived up to his promise of qualifying for the worlds.
En route to the gold medal bout, he scored points’ victories over Tony Heriniaina of Madagascar in the quarter-finals, and Bakari Hassan of Kenya in the semi-finals.
His compatriot, Jonas, started in the preliminary phase, where he beat Richarno Colin of Mauritius. That was followed by a win over Shadiri Swogi from Uganda in the quarter-finals before eliminating Dzalamolu Dival Malonga of host nation Congo in the penultimate round.
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