JONAS Junias was eliminated from the boxing competition at the Olympic Games when he lost his opening fight 3-0 against Hassan Amzile of France on Thursday night.
The fight was much closer than the scoreline suggests with all three judges scoring it 30-29 in Amzile’s favour.
Junias started on the offensive, throwing quick combinations and won the first round on two of the three judges’ scorecards.
Hassan however was more aggressive from the second round onwards and it was still anyone’s fight by the third round as both boxers slugged it out toe to toe.
The Frenchman got the decision, winning by a single point on all three scorecards, bringing an end to Junias’ Olympics campaign.
It capped an emotionally draining period for Junias since he was arrested and placed into custody on Sunday after allegedly sexually assaulting a housekeeper at the Olympic Village.
The NNOC with the assistance of the Namibian Embassy in Brazil managed to secure his release after a Habeus Corpus application and a statement by the Namibian Embassy that it would accept Junias in their custody and safe keeping, was accepted by the presiding judge.
After the fight Junias thanked his fans on his Facebook page for their support, saying he had gone through a difficult ordeal.
“That was my all to the people who believe in me and my innocence. Having sleepless night and kept behind closed doors for nothing is not easy i was drowned out and still went for the fight,” he said.
The Namibia Olympic Committee will now work on the second phase of Junias’ legal process with the aim of restoring his honour and reputation.
The NNOC has called on the Namibian public to assist financially to help them launch a successful appeal.
“That process unfortunately comes at a cost and we urge the public to support Jonas by making a contribution to enable us to vindicate Jonas. Anybody who wishes to assist financially can contact the offices of the Namibia National Olympic Committee for banking details. Any contributions must be clearly marked ´Jonas´,” it said in a statement signed by Namibia’s Chef de Mission at the Olympic Games Advocate Jesse Schickerling.
