Cape Verde’s most decorated female boxer, Ivanusa Moreira, is set to return to the ring on April 10, 2026, where she will challenge Ghana’s Sedem Ama for the WBA Africa super-welterweight title at the Bukom Arena in Accra, Ghana.
The eight-round championship contest, which will mark Moreira’s fourth professional outing, was officially confirmed via a fight poster shared with boxersworld.co.ke.
For Moreira, the bout represents far more than a regional title, it is in her words, her long-awaited “passport to Las Vegas,” the global epicentre of high-stakes boxing.
“This is my passport to Las Vegas, and I will not miss this opportunity,” Moreira stated during a telephone interview from Porto, where she is undergoing final preparations under the guidance of her coach, manager, and husband, Jorge Silva.
The 2023 African Championships gold medallist exuded confidence when assessing the challenge, emphasising her pedigree as both an elite amateur and an emerging professional. “I am an African champion, I am an Olympic athlete more experienced than her. I am going to beat her in front of her home fans,” Moreira said. “Yes, I will fight at her house, but that does not intimidate me. I have Cape Verde, Portugal, and thousands of fans around the world backing me. I will train hard for the fight and spend what I have to prepare myself 100 per cent.”
Moreira, who is based in Porto with her husband, is part of a select group of boxers balancing professional aspirations with an ongoing amateur career.
“I went to professional because they are the phases of every athlete to go through,” she explained. “I will continue in Olympic boxing until I am 40 years old.”
Her amateur credentials are formidable. Moreira first gained prominence with a bronze medal at the 2019 African Games in Rabat, followed by a quarter-final appearance at the 2022 World Championships, where she narrowly lost to eventual silver medallist Charlie Cavanagh of Canada.
In 2023, she claimed gold at the Africa Championships in Yaoundé, outpointing Morocco’s Oumayma Bel Ahbib. She added a silver medal at the inaugural Mandela African Boxing Cup in Durban in 2024 and represented Cape Verde at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where she reached the round of 16.
Moreira’s ambition to secure a World Championships medal in 2025 was curtailed in the round of 16 by Kazakhstan’s Zhasmin Kizatova. Nevertheless, she has remained unbeaten in the professional ranks, having compiled a 3-0 record following a victory over the Czech Republic’s Katerina Lisova in 2025. She also serves as an ambassador for the Gender Equality in Sport campaign.
Her opponent, Sedem Ama, presents a tough challenge. A UK-based boxer of Ghanaian descent, Ama is undefeated with a professional record of 5-0, including one knockout. She captured the WBA Africa female super-welterweight title on December 20, 2025, at the Legon Sports Stadium in Accra, defeating Nigeria’s Chiamaka Nwaturuocha by majority decision. That contest, organised by Legacy Rise Sports Promotions, was widely regarded as one of the most significant female boxing events staged in Ghana.
A former two-time national amateur champion, Ama has garnered attention not only for her unbeaten professional start but also for her distinctive career trajectory, having transitioned from a background in public relations and the corporate sector to the professional ranks. Her contributions to women’s boxing in Ghana were recognised with the “Unrivalled Diasporan Rising Star of the Year 2025” award.
Beyond the immediate stakes of the WBA Africa title, Moreira is also expected to be among the top competitors featured at the $1,000,000 IBA Africa Men’s and Women’s Championships later this year, a tournament anticipated to draw a capacity audience.
With her sights set firmly on a future in Las Vegas and her legacy as a pioneering figure in Cape Verdean boxing already secured, Moreira views the Accra showdown as the definitive step towards realising her next ambition.
“I am an African champion, I am an Olympic athlete,” she reiterated. “I am going to beat her.”