RWANDA’s hopes of fielding more than one pugilist at next year’s Olympic Games in London suffered a major setback after confirmation that Maurice Bikorimana is the country’s only participant at the World Boxing Championships which got underway yesterday in Baku, Azerbaijan.

"We had hoped to field about eight boxers but our means could only cater for one,” the technical director of the local boxing federation Gashugi Kananura said.

Bikorimana, who will compete in the light-weight category (64kg), is desperate to bounce back after a disappointing show in the just ended All Africa Games in Maputo.

In Maputo, the boxer suffered a first round exit at the hands of Nigeria’s Akanji Muyideen.

His Rwandan counterpart Vincent Nsengiyumva also fell to Muyideen while Feather weight (66kg) fighter Salim Kwizera was knocked out in the second round by Bruno Julio of Mauritius.

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