(AFP) — ADDIS ABABA: Donned in bright red trunks with a mouthguard to protect his teeth, Molla Getachew works on his footwork as part of a daily early-morning routine in a steamy gym in southern Addis Ababa.
With him is Solomon Zinna, a 31-year-old coach who is preparing Molla for the biggest challenge of his career in only three months time – the Olympic Games in Beijing.
The 24-year-old flyweight is the only boxer to have qualified for the tournament from Ethiopia, a country more associated with slender and wiry athletes than for pound-for-pound fighters in a boxing ring.
“God willing, I hope to perform very well and follow in the footsteps of our athletes who have achieved a lot throughout these years,” said Molla.
Diminutive but well-built, Molla has over 50 bouts under his belt, including ten defeats in his nine-year amateur career. His coach however, believes Molla’s athleticism and work ethic could give him the edge in Beijing.
“He is very athletic and strong, his belief in hard work could help him become the most successful Ethiopian in Olympic history,” said Solomon. Despite hailing from a rough neighbourhood in the capital’s Abnet district, where several friends took up boxing, Molla’s heart lay on the football pitch for the best part of his childhood.
He only took an interest in boxing at the age of fifteen, when an unexpected trip to a national championship left him so captivated that he had to climb trees and elude security guards to watch other bouts.
Within weeks, he had signed on to a local project and never looked back.
Molla said his journey to Beijing started in Algeria at the All-Africa Games in July last year, when his inexperience led to an early first round exit at the hands of a Cameroonian fighter.
Bitter over the unsavory defeat a motivated Molla went on to clinch his Olympic berth after a string of impressive results against Seychellois and Zambian opponents during the African Olympic qualifying tournament held in the same country in January this year.
He’s now hoping to shake off Ethiopia’s dismal showing at the Olympics by emulating the success of the country’s fleet-footed athletes.
Ethiopian boxers have featured in all but two editions since the 1960 Olympics in Rome but have only been able to reach the quarter-finals twice in 11 attempts.
In the meantime, Molla and his coach have devised a rigorous four-hour-per day training schedule at a newly inaugurated training facility of the Ethiopian Boxing Federation.
Inside, the thumping sounds of taped fists pounding heavy punching bags reverberate across the yellow-painted concrete walls.
Darting in and out, pint-sized unknowns square-off with sparring partners as trainers send out instructions.
Drenched in sweat, Molla, who fights in the 51kg division, bounces lightly from toe to toe. On the other side of the corner, his ex-trainer Tasew Gebretsadik who coached him through the continental qualifying tournament casts a wary eye on his former protegì.
Gebretsadik, a veteran Ethiopian boxing coach, however believes the Olympics might be a tall order for the unheralded boxer despite his determination to succeed.
“The boy could be psychologically affected since he’ll be participating on the biggest competition of his life,” said Tasew.
Weeks after securing a place in Beijing, a bitter wrangle broke out among members of the federation after the national body decided to replace the coaching staff including Tasew.
Furthermore, four boxers who trained alongside Molla disappeared two months ago in an apparent attempt to get asylum in Namibia after participating in another qualifying competition in Windhoek.
But despite the setback, Molla remains confident.
“I’ve prepared very well. I’m in the right state of mind to be successful in Beijing,” he says.